Because It Defies Logic
by Paper.Bullets
Summary: Maybe I'm destined for misfortune my entire life. All I ask for is to start my life over again - forget all the wrong I've done, and dedicate the rest of my existence to doing good. Maybe it's too much to ask for. But somehow attracting the attention of To-Oh's two Top Freshmen is something I did NOT ask for. - Eventual L x OC - Side Light x OC
1. Today :: One ::

_**Death Note**_ (デスノート) © Tsugumi Ohba, Takeshi Obata &_ Shueisha  
_Original Characters and _Because It Defies Logic _Fanfiction Plot Belong to Me.

******Because It Defies Logic  
**_. . . A Death Note Fanfiction . . ._

**Warning: **_Intended for an older audience due to mature subject matter.  
This story includes curse words, violence, gore, angst, mild sexual elements & much more.  
Author is not responsible for the emotional scarring of any individuals._

**|| -X- || Chapter One || -X- ||  
**_**revamped: 12/4/2011**_

_'Sometimes when I close my eyes, I can still see them bleeding; crying, screeching, hands wrenching to save me. Their bodies mutilated on the floor from being beaten, eyes frantic and unfocused. They're shrieking: pleading them to let me go, that I don't deserve this fate. Still, I was taken away. They couldn't save me._

_Sometimes when I close my eyes, I wonder if I could have saved them instead.'_

I gasped, head emerging from underneath my bathwater. Water trailed out from my mouth, and I combed my wet hair back with my pruning fingers. Strands of black hair floated in the water, and I picked them up to put on the side of the tub, so they wouldn't clog later on.

I let out a long exhale and craned my neck back, inching my way back into the water...

Not a moment later, one of my work cell phones blared on its ring tone. It took a moment of internal dispute whether I should go through the trouble of getting out of the tub, but after settling that maybe it was another rich client, I emerged from the steamy water and reached out the door with a dripping hand.

"Speak," I demanded harshly, a bit moody since I had to get out of my time of indulgence, water dripping all over my bathroom tiles. A chuckled resounded on the other end, followed by a long pause.

"Madison, I just wanted to congratulate you. I heard you're stopping the business," came the baritone British voice. So it wasn't a mission offer. Rarely clients would call back, since after they paid me and I had gotten their job done, there was no other reason to communicate. It was rare, but not a never. This one was a fat, lewd man named Lewis, who had been eyeing my posterior down ever since the money exchange. There was another long pause and I felt the urge to tap my foot impatiently. The bastard must be smoking another cigar.

"But Sugar Plum, I really want to meet you again. But a different location; the last place smelled of urine and feces, I still have nightmares about it."

He did _not _just fucking call me Sugar Plum.

"Sorry, but I'm not in service." Which wasn't a lie, really, and I despised men like that with a firm passion. His grubby fingers and rolls of fat were enough to make me want to barf out yesterday's meal. I sharply snapped the phone in half – conveniently hanging up on the lard bastard - and threw it into the trash bin. Breaking flip-phones had become a nasty habit of mine to release shots of anger, and I didn't even bother taking out the card inside to preserve. The cold was intensified by the fact that I was nude, wet, and it was late September. I trudged back to my hot bath and plunged in, re-wetting my black hairs and drifting off.

Another one of my cell phones rang out and I wondered if I should just throw it into the fireplace with the other one. It wouldn't be the same man calling though, since I only gave a client one number. With a giant box of disposable flip phones, it really didn't matter if threw one away every two days or so, anyways. Indecisive, I figured I could decline if it happened to be a murder, which was the 'hot commodity' these days thanks to a certain heart-attacking murderer. I not-so-guiltily pressed the 'receive' button and spoke. "Hello?"

"Is this... Kimberly?" It was a woman's voice, young and hesitant. I randomly checked my chainsaw massacre nails to see if any of them had grown out. They hadn't.

"Depends on who's asking." Kimberly was an alias I used before, but then again, I'd used many.

"... I was recommended to call you... I might have the wrong number."

"Who told you about me?"

"My aunt, Tsukioka Yoko. Erm... a will went missing, and she... took over her husband's property last month... Do you know her?"

I adjusted the phone on my shoulder, moving my wet hair away from the device. Tsukioka Yoko: the pampered Japanese lady who practically interrogated my ass to make sure I was 'capable of her requests and expectations'. She was annoying: and _rich._ As she very well proved when she offered the biggest amount of money I had ever been paid, and it wasn't even for a murder. Of course, I had realized how little this was to her once I had snuck a peak at her deceased husband's will and seen the amount of money he would have divided among the family. Thanks to me, the woman got to keep all of it for herself, as written in a 'previous will'.

"Ahh, Tsukioka Yoko-san. Of course, she wouldn't stop talking about her good luck that time when we had Coffee. Hey, what's your name? I'll call you back in a bit. Someone's at the door."

She told me her name was Tsukioka Mitsuki. I hung up on her, and went on to make sure our next call wouldn't be tapped.

**-X-**

"Ooh, the red velvet looks so yummy!" she exclaimed with high zest.

I beamed and nodded eagerly, my boyish, short wig knocking into my face like it always did when I nodded. "I tried out something different cream cheese frosting, and I think I've found my new recipe. It's a lot fluffier, and not as dense, which I think is charming for cream cheese."

"Oh, Alex," the lady twittered. She was a regular here at my bakery and I rather enjoyed her company sometimes. "You're such a bright boy, and you have such a gift for pastry-making and such. I wish you wouldn't close so abruptly..."

"Well, it's not _abrupt!"_ I laughed. "I've been talking to you about it for a month and a half, now! I really do thank you so much, Mrs. Harper. You always were one of my most valued customers."

Mrs. Harper was in her mid sixties, but when she was younger, she used to be a food critic. I valued her criticisms significantly, since she had improved my knowledge in the sweets field so much. She also did so much recommending for me, and always bragged about my products to her friends. She exuded an air of wisdom and poise everywhere she went, and despite her hair being a full hair of silver, she never complained about back pains or head aches like other old women did. She was always bright and full of energy, which I also admired greatly.

She beamed. "And I always will be! You have too much potential, Alex, and I hope you find a career in whatever makes you happiest! Where are you flying again?"

"Japan. To Tokyo, actually. I've decided to study abroad for some years."

"Ahh, yes. That's your nationality isn't it?"

"Yes, it is. My mom was from China, and my dad from Japan." I had no idea if that was true, but I didn't take it upon myself to tell anyone I was full Japanese because I had a foreign look to me that even I admitted to. I'd been questioned about my nationality many times, and since I had no idea _what _I was, throwing in a another asian race usually made people look the other way and get off my case.

"I wish you a safe trip, dear. Do keep in touch when you drop by again."

"I will, Mrs. Harper. Have a good day!" The bells at the door chimed as she pushed through and left my store with the box of cakes and pastries I'd made for her, and several other regulars that had always come to my store with whatever left-over ingredients I had, since I obviously wouldn't have taken them with me in my flight, either. The whole shop was practically empty; since I had made it clear that it was the day I was closing. The new buyers were completely renovating the place tomorrow and conveniently, I was already going to be on a plane at the time. I peaked into the paper bag she had presented to me, eyes feasting on the assortment of chocolate brands that I loved. I'd never openly said much about my love for sweets, but I guess she'd have assumed it, since... well, look at where I worked!

Besides being a criminal, of course.

You could find it ironic how one could be an assassin one day, and the owner of a sweets shop another, but I manage to balance it out quite skillfully, actually. It's not like I went undercover because I wanted to, but being in the whole bakery business really didn't make me a lot of merit in the small town I lived in. The only reason I was in such a small town was because I liked the quiet countryside life over the bustling city, but I was making an exception with Tokyo because I wanted to try something new.

I wasn't so much an assassin as I was an undercover spy - Geez, it's cheesy every time I thought about it, but I didn't know what to call it. Assassins didn't get much work nowadays, and even if they did, I wouldn't take it upon myself to advertise successfully that I was in the business. Still, I would call myself an assassin.

You lie once, you're a liar. You kill once, you're a killer.

Since I became an adult, the option of going undercover was rarely an option. I was able to find a sustainable job, what with my fake high-school credentials, and despite never having gone to college or university, employers didn't mind taking me in for rough labor. I had done everything from being a milk boy, paper-boy, dishwasher, waiter, painter, gardener, stock for various retail stores, a coffee shop barista – and then the brilliant job of an apprentice baker.

Why bakers weren't rich, I had no idea. They made magic with their hands.

When it came to undercover work, I would hit it big, and for months at a time I would have no other offers. Calling it undercover was really just a nicer way of saying criminal work: but really, they didn't differ much in my world. Most of the time, I was asked for things like stealing wills or other items of importance, listening in on conversations, and whatnot. Personally, I spent a lot of my time waiting and waiting for someone to ask me to find their lost child instead. But no: the police and other investigation forces are for that. It's not like I could put advertisement on a board that I wanted to be a superhero in disguise. It just wasn't that simple.

Ahh, and then there was the infamous _Kira. _The past year or so, the guy or girl had become the buzz of the city – sometimes in a negative light, sometimes in a positive. Everyone knew there when someone died of cardiac arrest, or when a suspicious criminal died: oh, that's Kira! It irritated me, just as any murder world. Yes, I was just guilty as Kira was for taking the lives of others.

But what Kira was doing was playing God. It was wrong. Cruel. Plain _repulsive._

"Sir, here's your ticket. You're Gate 15, Economy Class to Tokyo, Japan. You should get to the gate at least 15 minutes early, so 12:45 would be best!" the lady instructed, handing me my ticket. I smiled warmly at her and nodded, watching my luggage conveyer away. The fake brown hair on my short wig brushed my face gently. I wanted to make arrangements to actually cut it in Japan, but I didn't trust myself to be spotted in public in this small town with my natural black hair in view, nor did I want to dye it myself.

I walked off to the side and pushed up my fake glasses. I scanned around to find the washroom signs, and I hurtled towards it like a bolt of electricity.

Entering the men's rest room, I went into one of the stalls and quickly changed pads. I disguised myself as a guy in everyday life all too easily, and it would be an even bigger plus if I didn't have a period to worry about monthly. Other than times going undercover, I would never find myself outside in public the way I looked naturally. Of course in the end I'm still a female. Twenty years old, five foot seven inches tall with broad shoulders and rather big boned: but still female. I returned late a lot of the times, going from my bakery to home, and with sexism still in the air around my small, old-fashioned town, I took it upon myself to parade around as a male. It was just easier. It was simpler.

Walking out the door, I brushed past someone, knocking them over; my mind too caught up in whether of not I would leak on the plane.

"Ah! Look what you did!" It was a Japanese girl – since she immediately spoke in Japanese on impulse in America - looked younger than me with wavy brown hair tied up so it wasn't in her eyes. That, and how the hot chocolate was spilled all over her. I rushed over to her and knelt down, snatching her hands and making her drop her empty cup.

"W-what are you doing?" she demanded, and she blushed for a moment, before spitting out in broken English, "What... y-ou is... No! Excuse me!"

"You're not burned. Good." I glanced up over the black rims of my glasses, and she looked taken back as I spoke in Japanese. "Hang on, I'll get paper towels from the washroom. I'm really sorry."

Bolting there and back, I saw that a custodial cleaning worker had already began mopping the mess. I thanked him, and glanced over at the girl, who was coming out from the washroom in a different set of clothes.

"Lucky you, I hadn't checked in my suitcase yet, or I wouldn't have a change of clothes." She huffed, crossing her arms haughtily, but I could tell she was only teasing.

I furrowed my brows. "... I'm really sorry about that."

"Don't worry, it's not the end of the world. Or at least, until I see if the stains will come out," she jested further, smiling with an air of friendliness. I blinked and fixed my glasses. Thanks to my Asian genes, my nose bridge wasn't as high as other's, leading to the habitual position of my glasses dropping too low.

"Well, I'll be going. Goodbye."

I opened my mouth hesitantly before running in front of her. "Let me make it up to you!"

She was probably five years my junior, and owing someone a favor was never my style. Getting even was my style. She stopped in her tracks and stared at me in surprised before looking wearily at me. "Really? How?"

"I..." I stammered. "Let me buy you another hot chocolate. It's only right."

She looked bewildered again before giggling lightly, which soothed my somewhat guilty heart. She opened her brown eyes and shrugged. "Why not? Just let me check in my luggage!"

She got in line, and I followed behind her. I had to admit, that to any random bystander, we both looked like brother and sister with our matching hair colours, but the lack of conversation proved otherwise. We didn't even know anything about each other.

She seemed to realize the same thing. "I'm Yagami Sayu. What's your name?"

"Sveinson Rayne. You can call me just Ray, if you want." We both shook hands firmly, her petite, smooth hands uncertain, yet somehow firm in character.

Sayu cleared her throat. "So are you from here? You speak Japanese so fluently, but your name is not Japanese at all."

I considered lying. I didn't. "I've lived in America pretty much my whole life. I'm pretty fluent in Japanese, though. My dad was from Japan and my mom was Chinese, so I don't look fully Japanese."

"Cool! I'm one hundred percent Japanese from what I know. Hey, where are you going?" It amused me how quickly I had picked up conversation with this girl. She was obviously talkative, and trying to hold back. Not that I could blame her; I knew I wasn't the most inviting person out there.

"Tokyo, Japan."

Sayu gasped, quickly breaking out into a grin. "No way! That's where I'm going!"

I smirked, just to play around with her. "Maybe we're destined."

She turned pink, and looked down. "Hn."

With a light chuckle from me, she handed her passport and papers to the lady. After everything was done, we both went past Inspection and had a friendly time talking at Starbucks, where I did indeed keep my word and treat her.

It wasn't until we both checked our plane tickets that we realized we were seated only one person away from each other, where trading one seat with the stranger would obviously prove easy.

"No way! This is awesome; I have someone to talk to on the plane! I'm finally heading home after a piano audition for a show, but I didn't get chosen... My parents couldn't come since they're both busy, and my brother's in University so he couldn't be left off the hook, either!"

"How old are you, Yagami-san?" I inquired, drinking my chocolate beverage hungrily.

"I'm almost sixteen!"

"Really? I thought you'd be younger, like fourteen." I leered mischievously. "I'm twenty."

My smirk widened when she blushed furiously in response and was unable to respond for a moment. "Twenty! You look a lot younger than you are, too! My brother's younger than you, though. You look... maybe seventeen."

I gave her a fake glare and she giggled happily. We stayed there for a few more minutes, with idle banter about juvenile things: like how come that guy's hair was so puffy? Or how Sayu

"You're not going to eat them _all _by yourself, are you?" Sayu asked me on the plane as I pulled out everything from Nestle brands to, Godiva, Lindt, Ferrero Roche, Toblerone, Nestle, to Pocky - all of which were gifted to me by Mrs. Harper. She had openly advised me that I would become fat. I countered by telling her I didn't care.

"Take one." She gladly complied. During the flight, she leaned on my shoulder and fell asleep. She was a sweet girl, not too girly, and not so clingy it was annoying. I wouldn't mind a girl like her being my little sister, but then having any living relative would have just been dangerous with a profession like mine - was.

_"Hello?"_

_"Hey, Mitsuki. It's Kim. So what do you want me to do?"_

_"... It's about my f-fiancé. He's in Japan right now, and I'm sure he's been cheating on me."_

_"Japan..." I sighed, twirling some wet ends of my hair. I had conveniently gotten dressed so goose bumps weren't covering me anymore. "I guess that's convenient. I was thinking about getting away from here."_

_I tapped the pen to my dehydrated lips, staring around at my almost empty apartment complex. I moved around so frequently, there was no point in ordering a bunch of furniture and everything. I'd never been to Japan before, so maybe I could start my next life there. Hey, wasn't that where the case of Kira was mainstreaming?_

_She went on. "His name is Douglas Jones - six foot two, messy brown hair and green eyes. He has a Boreal Louis Vuitton messenger bag that he'll probably have on him. He always does. I'll fax you a picture, or we can meet, but-"_

_"It's fine, I don't need a picture." I scribbled everything in neat cursive on a piece of notepad. "And what exactly do you want me to do... to your soon-to-be ex-fiance?"_

_That was when she started sobbing uncontrollably. I waited patiently on the line, listening with a heavy heart as she whimpered. It took nearly five minutes for her to calm down, and the stammering, hesitant voice was replaced with one of murderous intent. "Kill that cheating fuckface. Chop off god damn his balls and everything. I want his body so messed up that you can't even tell who he is. Then do whatever you want. I don't want his shitty ashes."_

_I stayed silent for a moment. "I'm going to give you some time to think about this."_

_"Two Million. In Dollars. That will be enough, won't it?"_

_Rich: just like her Step Mother. "Mitsuki, I said I'm going to give you some time—"_

_"I don't need time!" She was hysterical. "You either do what I'm asking you to or you can-..."_

_I could hear someone scolding her harshly from the other end of the phone. It sounded like Yoko. I prayed dearly that she would talk some sense into this heartbroken girl. My desire for money wasn't nearly as strong as my reluctance to take a life._

_Another life. I sighed; rubbing my temples and keeping my eyes open to stop the images from rushing through me._

_Yoko was still lecturing Mitsuki in Japanese, but I could make out that the tone has softened. I listened intently, not to eavesdrop, but to measure my capacity of Japanese. It had been a long time since I had spoken it, so I made a little note on my memo to brush up on it._

_"I want him to suffer," she pleaded. I didn't hear Yoko reply. I wasn't entirely sure which one of us she was talking to. "Please. Let him suffer."_

_I considered this seriously, patiently waiting to see if Yoko would say anything. After a few more seconds, I heard her voice clearly through the receiver, speaking in Japanese._

_'We'll see what she can do.'_

_I bit my lip, concentrating. How tight was I for money? The shop had caused me to borderline on the debt life, and perhaps even university—_

_... University._

_I answered, "No amputations. No blood. No crushed bones, or choking. No damaged innards, or shattered _anything_. You know what I mean."_

_"What? How will you—"_

_"A Man's Pride is not something to be messed with. I will embarrass him. __I will make him suffer. _Take my word for it."

_Silence hung on the other end. Yoko mumbled something I couldn't make out. Mitsuki sniffled._

_But she agreed._

"So what are you doing in Japan?" Sayu asked once she was awake. I stared out the oval windows, head up in the clouds until she spoke.

"I'm enrolling there... as a student. "

She beamed in excitement. "Really? Which school?"

"I'll be a freshman at uh... I don't think I can pronounce this right. _To-Oh?_ University."

"To-Oh!... I can't believe this: my brother goes there! You should come by our house, this is so awesome!" she squealed.

I laughed heartily. "Maybe we really are fated. There's no way there's a coincidence in that."

She laughed at it this time, probably so overjoyed. Did she enjoy my company that much? No matter, she was good company to have. Just young: young and innocent.

"I'll introduce you! Light is really nice. He'd show you around and make sure you were okay," she smiled blissfully. I stared at her expression for a time, chin resting on my knuckles. She must love her brother a lot.

"That'd be nice."

"Where are you staying? I'll write down my address and you can write down yours." She snapped out a pen and paper, scribbling down numbers and a street name. Surely, this was the side of her she was holding back. Yes, her social skills and ability to talk to someone were in fact decent, but her innocence and adolescence made her so vulnerable. The fact that she would walk off with a stranger to have drink, going so far as to tell him (or her) so much about herself.

She ripped the paper off and handed it to me, which I took and stuck in my pocket. I wrote down the name of my new apartment complex and handed it to her. She reached under her seat and stuffed it in a bag and stretched her limbs. "Is it your first time in Japan?"

"No, I've been there before," I lied. If I said I hadn't she might offer me a tour around the country!

She licked her lips and beckoned a flight attendant for an extra blanket. She shook her head apologetically and said there were no more available.

"Are you cold?" I asked courteously. She glanced at me and blushed, nodding. I put an arm around her and pulled her closer to me, pushing the armrest up so it wouldn't be a divider.

"Perfect. I'm boiling here." I could see her cheeks tinting red, but she decided to snuggle with me anyways. It was fun playing the playboy once in a while.

"Th-thank you, Sveinson-kun."

Another hour passed, and Sayu fell asleep. It was a bit weird having her lie on me, but I fine for the most part. I stroked the hair on her scalp. It was so silky, such a mellow chocolate brown colour. It made me jealous sometimes, though I wouldn't admit it. Girls like Sayu were the serious definition of _girl. _Loveable, adorable, naïve, ditzy, melodramatic, somewhat obsessive, and top it off with the ability to depend on someone - to trust someone.

Or at least, that's as far as _my _definition went. It's no Oxford Dictionary, but it got me by.

I remembered that when I was her age, I spoke to no one. Why? Because there was nothing to say, and because speaking to someone only risked being found out. They could be another spy, a pedophile, or just fucking insane. I had never went to school. I had no friends my age, except—

I shook my head of the memories, releasing their grip on me. Now wasn't the time. If I broke down now, I would have the worst time trying to explain myself out of it.

With nothing to do, I began to ponder deeply, like I often did in times of boredom. I began mapping out my scenario, plotting how I would live, blueprinting my education...

_The shop sold for so little, but I bought it at a high price so I totally got ripped off. But after this last job, I... I'll have enough to open another shop. I'll have enough money to get back on track and income will flow in again. _I mused, looking at the night sky through the window. _Gosh. Do they even let students own their own business in Japan? God, they better. Otherwise I – I... Never mind. I can get by without working like this, I can._

I stared at the window, which reflected my face faintly. Staring back was still a corrupt, nefarious, filthy soul. _I can get by. _I tried to convince myself again.

_I'll have to._

_**-X-**_

Prior to moving to Japan, I donated most of the useless stuff I had. Being of my profession, I had piles of make up, over 500 different costumes, which included wigs, shoes, coats, accessories – you name it. I also had that giant box of disposable flip-phones, and countless Fake Ids, where too many different Aliases I went by. Not to mention, I varied between two genders, disguising myself as male and assassinating as a female. People might have wondered why I decided not to shave my head upon going undercover, otherwise I might leave a stray hair, but I never worried about that. It was kind of like... the last straw to my femininity, other than my breasts and period. It was long, without a doubt, but I always bundled it up and slapped it on with hardcore gel, glue, whatever they had and slapped a wig on.

There were simply too many Identities I could take, and I decided to ditch every last one of them, and just go with my everyday life name. Rayne Sveinson. Male. Twenty Years Old, Graduated with flying colors and all that nice pizzazz. I was their typical, shoujo-manga good boy, and I supposed they were sad to see me leave, just like Mrs. Harper was. They all babbled on about my so-called potential, and how I could become a doctor or a lawyer, but that was typical old people talk. Of course, they were oblivious and didn't know that all my accumulated crimes would probably earn me a fat, juicy life-sentence in prison.

Nice folk, indeed.

I rolled my luggage to the door of my new home and turned the key, pushing the heavy door open. Flicking on the lights, I breathed in the new scent of disinfectant, and other cleaning mediums used prior to my arrival. I had found the place online through an acquaintance, and it was quite a catch despite it's hefty price. 800 square feet, 1 bedroom – one washroom, bar kitchen, large windows, open concept, newly renovated into a chic, modern living space with plenty of storage. There was quite a spectacle of a view, despite only living on the 26th floor. I could still see most of the city lights on the other side of the body of water. I stood outside my balcony, looking down at the small traffic going by below me. It was a decent neighbourhood, with a Convenience store nearby, as well as a bus stop. It was as much as I could ask for, anyways. I already got lucky, since I had wanted a space where I could sit on the balcony with a chair and book, reading. Hard to do that at my previous place when there were fights going down below sometimes.

A tear overflowed my brimming eye and the knot in my chest was threatening to snap. My knees buckled under me as I hung onto the railing for support.

I was so useless. This was the start of my new life, and how old was I? Twenty. I had to wait this long to finally get yourself on a good track and ditch the crime. I had never been able to break the habit. I never had the motivation to. It brought good pay; it gave me dinner; it allowed me to open a bakery so that I could try to make my own living, but for the price of what?

I broke down into tears, sniffling and trying to muffle my wretched sobs with my sleeve. My glasses were resting on the desk inside, watching me as I doubled over and wretched tear drenched my cheeks. I peaked up and stared back without much reason, suddenly aware of just how alone I really was, even after all this time.

The agency of criminals I belonged with had disbanded long ago. They were found out and put to court two years after I left when I was ten. If you can really say that I 'left'. I was forcefully 'banned', in other words, I was supposed to be executed and dumped under a remote bridge to rot and decompose with a stab wound to my gut.

_Sometimes when I close my eyes- _I gasped, shaking my head violently, triggering the muscles in my neck to tense.

_No. I couldn't save them. It wasn't their fault. I couldn't save them._

They raised me with a group of other children. They never taught us the meaning of a human life, or simple things like what it meant to give, to care... to love. They took advantage that we were all too young to comprehend the concept of life and anything that came with it: death. Other children shared similar fates to me. We had taken a liking to each other. We mourned when the others were taken away. Perhaps that was how I had managed to apply the concept of mourning their deaths to mourning death in general. Not everyone grew with this vague awareness of civilization. More than enough were brainwashed into doing whatever they were told. I still wonder just how lucky I was to have escaped with that inkling of understanding and compassion I had.

That inkling had ruined me, yet it had saved me.

When it came to my first mission, I failed miserably, nearly getting held hostage and threatened for torture to betray the cult's identity. The cult 'rescued' me, or rather, themselves, and they were more than furious with me. They were livid and outraged.

Outraged enough to beat me to the verge of death and dumped on the forest roadside. Who would have thought a stroke of luck helped me out. If they had tied my limbs together like they were supposed to, and dumped me into the glacial ocean where I didn't know how to swim, I wouldn't have survived. If they hadn't been in a rush to violate the girl in the red light district, they would have dealt with my fate _properly._

They didn't know that the reason I failed was not because I was careless, or not strong enough, or smart enough, but because I hadn't wanted to - hadn't wanted to kill.

It was a child my age. She had no idea who I was, or how or when I'd gotten there; but I could see in her eyes that she knew what I was going to do to her.

So I didn't do it.

_I'm so pathetic. Pathetic, pathetic, pathetic! _I grievously sobbed silently, forcing the lump down. It had taken a very long time for the concept of a 'sustainable living' to comprehend in my brain. And even after I understood that crime wasn't the only way for me to survive, I had still accepted missions.

Had it really taken me ten more years to get my act together?

I had let go of all my morals once and I was never going to let go again.

Ever.

**-X-**

I finally finished unpacking in an hour, and phoned the furniture company to see when the decor would be arriving. They said they were on their way. I'd sold many of my weapons to my 'acquaintances' who were in the black market industry, though I kept a few handy ones with ease due to my gun license. I'd had them shipped over with some difficulty, but they'd made it at the apartment lobby by the time I checked in.

I was out of my male attire, so my natural black hair fell over my shoulders, and I was dressed in a simple baggy tshirt and plaid pajama pants. I could feel the dirt and dust on the cold floor of my balcony as I stepped out, but I didn't care. It was already seven in the evening, and I had some time to kill before the furniture came. I breathed a breath of fresh air and stretched, looking down onto the street. There was only a select group of people; probably residents and they were all conversing. I stared down at them for a while before notice a man rubbing his chest and hitting it softly. I narrowed my eyes as I watched him begin to massage harder and complain of chest pain.

Before he had even begun convulsing, I had already made a mad dash for my cabinets. I knew it all too well, since I often read medical books and taken a few first aid courses, plus watching the news nowadays and looking at the Kira killings had influenced my head oh-too-well.

_Harness, harness, harness, ... _I snatched it out of my hidden compartment. By the time I was back onto my balcony in about 3 seconds and looked down at the man, it was obvious: Cardiac Arrest.

_Hook. Strap. Hop. Drop._

I was falling fast towards the ground but I used my feet to bounce with expertise down my apartment wall, ignoring the sharp, gritty texture of the wall scraping against my bare feet. The harness wasn't even strapped to me since that would've taken a minute or two so I was simply holding the belt with a tight grip. I was two meters off the ground before I leapt off the wall, harness dangling loosely on against the wall as I sprinted towards the man. Years of climbing walls, hiding in vents, fast thinking, and undercover stunt work had its many positives.

"Go into the convenient store and ask for an AED! Now, go!" His partner's eyes bulged out at me in confusion, before following my orders promptly and hurrying into the store.

"Come on, come on," I hissed, the man was literally clutching his chest and wheezing, eyes rolling back as he twitched and wheezed in pain. He had already been lowered to the ground, and I slid next to him on the concrete floor.

"Sir, I'm trained in first aid, can I help you? Do you have any medication for your heart attac-" I tried to ask for consent as I got the machine ready, but he lost consciousness. Fortunately, his friend came back just then with the AED in hand, as I lowered the unconscious man so he didn't hit his head. _Perfect, _I thought sarcastically. _At least its implied consent._

I put the pads under his shirt in place, grateful that he was neither hairy nor sweaty, and waited in anticipation for the machine to say those words. The AED was on and ready.

_"Analyzing Heart Rhythm... Shock Advised. Charging..."_

_It's too slow, hurry up, hurry up, hurry-_

_"Stay clear from patient. Deliver shock now."_

I hadn't waited for it to finish the words and slammed my thumb onto the yellow button, the man jolted.

_"Shock Delivered."_

I watched for any signs of consciousness before scrambling to get my hands into the CPR position, the unconscious man's partner shouted for me to stop. The man on the floor coughed and wheezed for a second, rubbing his chest and wrenched his eyes opened. I had never felt so proud and relieved in my life. A mixture of emotion clouded my brain, the main one being shock.

I ... did I just save his life?

"You saved his life!" the man called out, confirming my revelation. "Thank you so much! Oh, thank you!"

I was breathing hard, blushing and nodding modestly while clapping began around me. A crowd had formed in the isolated street. Just a little more than a handful of people, passerbies from the convenient store and such. I bowed reverently to all of them, feeling out of place and awkward. Besides, I was in my pajamas and standing outside in the cold during November.

But the main point was I saved the man's life.

I knew that it didn't make up for the lives I had brought misfortune upon or ruined, but it was a start.

Someday, I will close my eyes and the memories won't haunt me.

_**-X- End Chapter. **__**-X-**_

Yes, she's a girl. CROSS DRESSING, CHYAAAAAA~~~ *slapped*

What's her name? Madison, Diana, Kimberly, Rayne, Alex, wtf! - Well, you'll see. Or maybe not. Or iuno. Look at the summary of the story, thanks.

** YES, IT'S BEEN EDITTED.I've done a bit of tweaking with the storyline and seen the flaws. I've been writing Rayne as rather mentally stable and a civilized individual, which I don't believe ANYBODY WHO'S KILLED HUNDREDS OF PEOPLE WOULD BE, and other things, such as how she wouldn't have had so many job offers for assassinations, and blah blah. So instead, I subjected her to a life of crime instead of murder, though lives _have been taken. _Don't complain to me about how this makes her less badass, or how she still wouldn't be civilized with a life of crime. I understand if it's still unrealistic to your guys, but I... think... it's acceptable. Is that weird of me?):

There is further back story & scenes of 'Rayne's past to come, but that's for another time (;

Hope you like. If you're confused, don't be. It'll clear up soon. I tried to make it as clear as possible, though, so just re-read if you must, haha

**REVIEWWWWW **your questions and suggestions .heart. (:


	2. Encounter :: Two ::

**Authoress:** It's been changed to First Person! Hope it's not too confusing! ^^

**Ryuk: **The Authoress does not own any rights to Death Note.

**Authoress:** Good boy! *Throws Ryuk an Apple*

**Ryuk:** *Catches* :D

**Authoress:** Enjoy _'Because It Defies Logic' _Chapter Two!

**-X-**

**Chapter Two: Encounter  
_revamped: 12/19/2011_**

**-X-**

"Give me a second, Sveinson-kun," the old office lady smiled warmly at me, typing into the computer. I nodded and proceeded to rock back and forth gently on my feet, excited. The first time I had ever been in a school! Other than that time I had to get rid of a video of the principal and a teacher secretly having-... whatever. I was enrolled! I was going to be a _student!_

"Here, sweetie, I'll show you to your classroom," she said, getting up. Fixing my glasses on my nose, I followed her, patting my wig lightly just to make sure it hadn't moved out of place. It was ten minutes into class and the halls were mostly empty except for a few students here and there.

"...but it doesn't seem he's — Ahh, there he is. Come on in," I heard the male teacher say. Following the office lady's gesture, I stepped into the classroom, wondering if they were going to introduce me. I thought they only did that in High school? Or was Japan different like that, too?

"I'm Kobayashi-sensei. This is, uh... Correct me if I'm wrong, Reh-no, Su-ven-soh-nu?" I nearly smiled at their Japanese way of saying my name.

"Ray is fine. It's pronounced S-ven-sin," I spoke, shrugging it off lightly.

"Alright, Sfff.. Suuffs..." I smirked, as did the rest of the class at the teacher's inability to say my surname. "Ahh... Ray-kun. That's alright if I just call you by your first name, right? That's great. Class, Ray-kun is from America, but his Japanese is very fluent, so welcome him to To-Oh. Take a seat behind Yuno-san in the uh... He's over there. Yes, there!"

Walking up the aisle, I squeezed in behind him and made my way to my seat, ignoring the awkward glances of my new 'schoolmates'. I hoped a hair hadn't slipped out of place in my wig and everyone was staring at it...

"Ray-kun, I'll have you share with Watanabe-san next to you. Move your book so he can see, Watanabe." Watanabe, to my right, moved the Math Textbook over, looking strangely fidgety. I ignored his weird behavior and scanned the text in the book. I narrowed my eyes at it and blinked. _Definite Integrals. Fucking brilliant._

"...Don't like what you see?" Watanabe whispered, giving me a sly grin, though I heard a hesitant edge in his voice. I smirked, nodding. "If you need any help, just tell me... I'm Watanabe Sato."

I smiled at him, introducing myself again and shook his hand under the table. I barely understood anything on the page. Mix in those complicated symbols with a load of Japanese and it _really _looked like gibberish. A few minutes into class, Sato turned away from me and buried his face into his folded arms, and I figured that he was sleeping. I took my chance and scooted the textbook closer to me, flipping through the pages and reading as much as I could from the lessons and chapters before. As soon as I had a grasp of the idea, I glanced around to see if I had missed anything important. The professor was talking about airplanes or something... and I immediately took the liberty of flipping back further, scanning the pages with expertise and draining the words into my brain, nodding slightly as soon as I understood the concept.

"You see, I went to Canada once and-... Ray, is there something wrong?"

I was nodding, deep in thought as I flipped through a few more pages. I hadn't heard the teacher call my name.

"... Ray-kun? Ray!"

I slammed the book shut and straightened my back with a gasp, sucking in my lip as I realized I'd been caught. The sound and impact of the slam caused Sato to jolt up, making him lose balance on his chair and nearly fall over, grabbing onto the table to save himself. I lowered my head as the teacher sighed and shook his head.

"I know it's your first day, and it'll take some getting used to. Try to pay attention in class, though, it'll help with what you don't understand," he lectured, a stern look on his face.

_But... you just go off topic... _I felt like saying, but in my position, I kept my mouth shut and nodded grimly, muttering a quick, insincere apology. The teacher grimaced and went back to the lesson. Sato gingerly patted me on the back for comfort, and I smiled faintly at him. He beamed back a grin.

**-X-**

"Hey, you wanna hang with us?" Sato jabbed a thumb back at his friends, who were looking me up and down, sending me a smirk. After sitting through a two-hour class, he was dead hungry. I, on the other hand, didn't have much of an appetite. It was my hour break and Sato said he had a little time before his next class. "We're just gonna grab a bite to eat at the Cafe."

"...No," I responded, after taking in the judging glances of the jury. "I think I'll pass. Thanks for offering though, dude. Maybe another time."

"Next time." He grinned sheepishly; his bleached bangs bouncing off his eyelashes every time he blinked. "Catch ya later!"

I put out a hand and waved meekly at him as he bounded down the hall to his friends. I smiled thoughtfully. He was a good guy, that one, and even handsome. Maybe we would be friends.

Yeah. Not likely. As I had turned around, I noticed a few different groups of girls giving me a judgmental, scrutinizing look. They were judging me, even as I was a _male. _Thank gosh I wasn't female, or I might be subjected to jealous love-driven bullying.

Letting a disappointed sigh, I cautiously made my way around school to try and find my way to the cafeteria. Best bet would be to follow Sato and his friends, but tagging along would just encourage his invitation further, and his friends seemed friendly enough to accept me quickly, despite all my shortcomings. Considering the awkward possibility that I'd bump into him there, I rounded a corner towards sliding twin doors and headed outside.

I found a spot under a tree outside. I swung off my messenger bag and opened the flap, revealing books, binders and other supplies. I whipped out an apple and began munching on it, opening my Calculus textbook. I'd already gotten a start on it so I might as well get as caught up as I could. The light wind made the pages flutter lightly as I bit into my apple again. I looked up as a boy walked past me. Swallowing a bite of my apple, I stared at him for a longer while, since he wasn't glancing my way.

He was about my height, which is quite short for a guy of my taste, anyway, but he was definitely a looker. He had a honey-chocolate shade of brown hair and his eyes were closed. From my distance, I caught the immense length of his eyelashes, curled up perfectly. He had a sharp chin, but not so sharp it was unnatural or feminine, and a defined jaw line due to his rather skinny self. The way he walked amused me. It was as if he was sure someone was always looking, and he always held himself up, posture straight, shoulders back, chin up, and arms swaying back and forth only faintly, perfectly in sync with his long strides. It was then that he opened his eyes and looked over at me. Being as bold as I am, I kept an unfaltering, steady gaze at him, taking in the gorgeous brown shade of his eyes. I bit into my apple again: definitely a looker.

Interest piqued in my mind as I saw him frown, just the slightest bit, those perfectly proportioned lips curving downwards. If I weren't as observant as I was, I wouldn't have caught it. I watched as his brain calculated. I knew that look. He was deciding whether he knew me or not, and wondering why I was staring. Or perhaps he was wondering if I was checking him out... Not that I was. Yes, he was a good looking chunk of meat, but something told me that someone who walked and looked the way he did most likely commanded an aura of arrogance, which I hated.

I watched as he brusquely turned his head away and walked onwards, as if he had never laid eyes on me. Just as suddenly, another boy came toddling from behind him. This one had messy, black hair and dark rings under his eyes. He was wearing nothing but a white T-shirt and jeans (and underwear, I assumed and hoped). His posture reminded me of a Tyrannosaurus Rex, hunched back and arms bended close to his side. I kept another unwavering gaze at him and watched as he tapped the 'Looker' on the shoulder. Looker glanced back, slowing down his pace and said something to him, a faint smile on his face. T-Rex replied with something. I gazed intently.

_"He's been looking at you for a while," _T-Rex continued. I read their lips with ease, having basically done it my entire life. It was a bit harder since it was Japanese, but I took the words I could make out and forged them together, making a perfectly comprehensible sentence.

_"Yes, I know that." _Looker sounded annoyed. He didn't look over at me once. His eyes remained straight, and expression calm.

... _Clever. _I munched on my apple, coming in contact with a seed. I spat it out into my palm and dropped it on the ground, not once lingering my eyes elsewhere. _Trying to outsmart me, are you?_

_"Do you think he wants something?"_

_"If he did, he would come over. Maybe he mistook me for someone else."_

A pause. T-Rex looked over. I smirked, but I couldn't help it. I thought he looked adorable with his posture like that. _"Do you think he is interested in you?"_

_"...Please just drop it."_

I smirked even wider. _So they _do_ think I'm checking him out._

_"I think he can hear us," _T-Rex said at the sight of my smirk. I finished up my apple and stood up, walking to the garbage bins a few meters away.

"Excuse me," he shouted, if you can really call it a shout. I could barely hear it, but I could tell that it was his 'shout' by the way T-Rex cupped his hands around his mouth. "Can you hear us talking?"

_Cute. _I thought, smirking. I kept my eyes directed towards my tree spot and it wasn't until I had sat down and opening my Calculas Textbook book again that I peaked a sly glance upwards at the duo.

He blinked and I flipped another page, grinning to myself as he shrugged to Looker. Looker snuck a glance at me. I lifted my eyebrows up for a second at him flirtatiously and winked, unable to contain the devilish grin crawling to my mouth. He frowned deeper and I could tell he held his breath for a very short second. With that perverted kind of thing that all my grubby clients did to me when they were trying to flirt, he would completely think I was 'into him'. He turned away brusquely and after a childish head tilt, T-Rex followed along. He kept his eyes on me for a while longer, speculating on my actions with a finger straying around the area of his mouth. I smiled and looked back into my book to get some more studying done.

**-X-**

"Still reading that chapter?" Sato nudged me playfully in the side and I cast him a fake annoyed look that he smirked at. It was time for Biology, and I had to admit, I was entirely relieved to see Sato in this class, too. "Quit being so tight. This is still the easy stuff. Didn't you learn this back at your old school yet?"

"No. I couldn't attend school for a very long time," I explained, watching intently for his response. His look softened and he cleared his throat before scooting closer to me.

"Here, I'll help you with that." I grinned genuinely. He really was a kind person. Anyone else might have prodded further into my business, especially since I had excused myself so casually, they would have taken the hint to press onwards. He was smart enough to catch on that it was out of his right to ask me, and quickly dropped the topic. I closed my eyes listened to the sound of his soothing voice explaining the concept to me.

"So you see, if ƒ is an even function, that is, ƒ(-x) = ƒ(x), and is continuous on [-a,a], then the... the integral..." I opened my eyes when he stopped talking and noticed him staring at my face. I feigned a confused look.

"What's up?" I whispered teasingly, watching him lean back in his and look at the table tensely. He was thinking, and from the looks of it, a bit overwhelmed.

"Nothing, just... Nothing," he ended rashly and I furrowed my brows. "What'd you say you were again? You're from America but you're Japanese?"

I answered back casually, still analyzing his strange change in character. "Yes. I'm part Japanese, part Chinese. Why do you ask?"

He swallowed a bit of saliva and I observed as his pupils wavered at my legs. I was wearing a pair of Diesel jeans, a Levi's white T-shirt and an unbuttoned black collar shirt. My toes wiggled slightly inside my Grey-White sneakers from the way he was just absentmindedly staring at them. I cleared my throat and when he looked up, I raised a brow. Now he was staring at my face.

I leaned in closer to him, a look of teasing confusion on my face. "Watanabe-san... Are you homo?"

"Agh!" He finally lost it and blushed. "No! But you're just so... Gosh, are Chinese boys just really feminine?"

"That's racist!" I accused, smacking him upside the head. He flinched and laughed out loud.

"G-guess I deserved that... Thanks for knocking me to my senses!"

"If you haven't noticed, I lack a pair of boobs," I scoffed, playing up the masculine bit for good measure. The advantage I had was that I could play up any personality I wanted here, since no one knew what to expect from me. Did I want to be sensitive? A Jerk? Maybe the geek.

_Let's go with sensitive geek who can be a jerk. _I concluded in my mind, smirking to myself.

He snorted, the blush still wavering on his cheeks. "Yeah, and you also lack facial hair. Look at your arms, dude, isn't that going a bit too far with shaving?"

I glared at him, now feeling a bit embarrassed myself at my rolled up sleeves, exposing my mainly hairless skin. Maybe I should buy some of that hair growth stuff and rub it on my arms and legs?

"Wait. But I hear that Chinese men are pretty hairless. Like, you guys have a full head of hair on your head... and nowhere else! 'Sit true?" he said, leaning in close to my face and tilting his head both ways as if analyzing me.

"Stop it!" I growled, chuckling. Class started momentarily after Sato explained a few equations to me and I nodded eagerly when I got them. Every time I did, he seemed to shoot me another judgmental glance and shake his head sarcastically, but after three times I gave him a glare and he stopped, giving me a bright smile. Students began to slowly drop in, coming in and out of class before settling in their seats. A class of 32 quickly became a class of about 100 students and the entire classroom was filling out. Eventually, I had to get out of my seat because Sato told me their class had a seating plan. I swung my messenger bag over my shoulder and ambled towards to front of the room, eyes just happening to be cast down. I stopped at the front of the classroom, and decided that waiting at the front of the room was just obstruct people getting to their seat so I took a step outside, and hid from the judging eyes of my new classmates.

I tilted my head back, letting the horrible fluorescent lighting cast upon my bare neck and face. I sighed and dropped my head, eyes meeting with the most captivating honey-brown eyes I had ever laid eyes on. There was a noticeable slowing of Looker's pace in surprise at our second meeting and I slowly lifted my lips to a lopsided smirk.

I couldn't see the slightest hint of wavering in emotion on his face, which came off unnatural to me. He walked past me and I caught sight of T-Rex trailing close behind him, our eyes meeting briefly before I brushed off the meeting and closed my eyes to tilt my head down. I opened them seconds later to see T-Rex glancing back at me curiously, a finger in his mouth. I grinned and gave a small wave. He continued to stare, with dark, circles outlining his jet-black orbs. Without any warning whatsoever, I swooped back into the classroom and awaited the arrival of my teacher.

**-X-**

To be honest and frank, University was exactly as I'd imagined it to be. I was smart enough not to anticipate some gaudy high school musical plot about falling in love and social hierarchy with all that status quo shit and whatnot, so I was nothing less of satisfied and blending in amazingly. The day went by without much stress, except academically, and I found that I got by very well. No one paid attention to me other than the occasionally friendly girl or guy who asked if I needed any help. At this rate, things would finally settle for me. I'd finally be... normal.

Ironically, just as the thought of normality set in, I went home to prepare for the mission.

_Good thing he's not some high-class CEO. His personal information is so easy to find... _I sipped absentmindedly at my apple juice straw and was looking at the profile of Douglas Jones. Unless there was another Douglas Jones, half Japanese, half white, six foot two, thirty-two years old, who graduated from Boston University from the class of -... well, there isn't.

I put my juicebox down and after successfully hacking into several sites containing his flight details, profile and police records, I munched at a bag of dried apple chips and swayed my head away to _Mamoru Miyano's Ao No Tsubasa. (1)_

_Flight V0267 to Tokyo, Japan three months ago... what a cheating fuck face, if you're gone that long to 'check up on some old friends', of course your girl friend's gonna find out. _I snorted, going through more records on my laptop.

_Degree in Engineering, Hobbies include windsurfing, rock climbing... computers, public speaking, charity work... _I clicked my tongue randomly and continue to surf for more valuable information. I had to make him 'suffer', as I had promised Mitsuko, but I wanted to avoid the 'near-death' area as much as possible. I scrolled down to his health records.

_... Allergic to Ibuprofen: Hives._

**-X-**

I was dressed in a low V-neck black cocktail dress inside a black trenchcoat, my long wavy hair compacted into a tight fishnet and secured inside a snug shadow toque. I let out a slow breath and calmed down the anxiety building up. I'd done this a thousand times. Calm...

There he was, in his sleek black tux, and accent white tie. The wind was strong... and I was going to fully use that to my advantage.

I took my wind gage out from my pocket and set it down onto the building ledge, watching the gears settle and then spin in a flurry. I experimented by throwing a tiny white pebble off the room I stood on. It curved 64 degrees right. My eyes carefully proposed an estimated wind direction and turbulence the bullet would encounter. I frowned.

I waited until my wind gage was more at the degree I wanted. I picked up another pebble and tossed it up and down a few times, getting the hang of it's mass and chucked it forward, after glancing at my gage again, watching it curve a rewarding 40 degrees or so. I exhaled, another pebble dancing in my fingers as I spotted the streetlamp just meters away from the expensive hotel. I slowed down my breath, heart rate muffled as my eyes slit and I launched it forward, smirking deviously when it hit the metal with a quiet 'clink'.

My target already had his new partner smugly under his arm. My pupils glared at him from behind my grey contacts and I whipped out my blowgun and aimed, breath so intensely concentrated that the world around me dimmed. My heart rate muffled, my pupils fixated on one spot as I aimed the gun in the appropriate direction, the world around me a pitch black.

My breath restraint had to be perfect. The trigger had to be operated to achieve a shot release without any alteration to its planned course or I was done. I had to aim off for the elevation and direction for it to penetrate the doors at the exact right moment, right angle, or it wouldn't go through. These were only the beginnings of things that could very possibly go wrong just minutes into the mission.

But when you've learned these things as early as you learned to walk, it's about as difficult as walking down a crowded street.

A drunken old man walked through the spinning doors and I fired. I watched Douglas smack his hand onto the back of his neck and blink in confusion. Little did he know, doing so would just drive the tiny mechanism deeper into his system and thus make the reaction faster. I wasted no time and leapt down the fire escape, trampling onto another rooftop and spiraling into a dark alley. I snapped off the fishnet and my jet-black hair flowed like waves cascading down my shoulders.

Dressed in only my trench coat, I haled a taxi a few blocks form the casiono, directing it to drive me to a nearby restaurant. Form there, I waited until it had left to hale another one, which brought me back to the front of the Casino entrance. I fixed up my revealing dress a bit and smoothed my long silk gloves. Cautiously, I paid the second cab-driver and exited the vehicle.

It was showtime.

I was about a mile away from him, and he was moving fast and upwards in an elevator. I watched as his arms wrapped around his partner and travelling down her back in a caressing, seductive motion. No matter how trained I was, a curved bullet was not something I could achieve. The lightweight needle-like object in the blowgun was small enough for me to use the force of wind to my advantage. It had contained a tracking device for me to know his whereabouts, as well as enough ecstasy to get him in the mood for some bedroom frolicking. Either the drug was working, or he was just a naturally perverted man.

With a swift motion, I swept off my trench coat and was dressed in just my back-exposing, low-cut dress. Hanging my coat on my arm like a butler, I began moving.

I glided past the Casino Slot Machines, all the while ignoring the hungry glances at my bare back. The positive of this dress was that I was long and flowing once past my waist and allowed for quick, large movements. Of course, whatever 'large' movement I would have to do would be hindered by the fact I was wearing 4 inch heals, but I was rather adapted to coping with them.

I posed my fake key-card for a room and walked past the security guard, blending in with a large group of sophisticated men and their partners. I slipped into an elevator with 3 other people, and I pressed a floor that none of them were on and higher than them all. My heart was racing again and I went through the liberty of calming myself down again.

When I stepped out, it was just my luck that the corridors were relatively empty. I leaned against the wall, checking my cell-phone as if I were just texting. Douglas Jones was on the floor above me, unmoving, which meant he was most likely in his room. The tracker told me that repetitive motions, and a strong heartbeat were happening within his system. I sighed. The ecstasy was obviously working.

I silently hoped that sex didn't last five minutes for him. He was a rather big guy, so that should mean he had a lot of stamina, right? And his partner looked like quite the seducing vixen herself, no offence to Mitsuki whatsoever. I waited for maybe half an hour, very happy with the still constant heart rate of his going very strong. More than a few dozen people had passed me in the course of time, and as they all entered their rooms respectively, I double-checked my surroundings, and made sure no one was coming up the elevator.

I shot the security camera down right from where it was hanging, and walked towards the fire-alarm positioned directly across it.

With the end of my gun, I pressed the bar down, and sirens blared throughout the Casino.

**-X-**

People scrambled from their rooms, and I silently hoped no one _else _was having sex at the time, because then I was just being mean. I made sure to spot for any naked couples running around, and thankfully, I only saw one. Snickering to myself, I couldn't help but feel like this 'crime' wasn't such a crime after all.

We all clustered in the staircase fire escapes, people's hands pushing past each other and trying to get out of the building faster. Announcements were sounding around the Casino as we were told to keep calm, and that the source of the fire was not yet found, but no one could hear the words through the screams and frenzy. With the many hands slapping and pushing past each other, one more hand making contact with Douglas wouldn't surprise him.

I pushed past him, hand holding the tiny needle to inject ibuprofen into his bare skin. I didn't look back to see if he had winced, or if he comprehended what I had just done. I just kept running down, yelling, being as panicked as everyone else to get out.

As everyone made it outside the lobby of the Casino, the attention to Douglas was inevitable. People were calming down, and as everyone turned to see the naked couple, covered in sweat, hair in a mess, some couldn't hold back their laughter. He had only a bath-robe tied around his bottom half, his upper body and lower legs completely exposed. As if that weren't bad enough, Douglas was in the middle of having an allergic reaction, hives breaking out in red bumps all over his body. His new girl had her middle portion wrapped tightly, face blistering red and trying desperately to hide in the arms of Douglas, but as he was having an allergic reaction, he was too busy scratching and wondering why he was having an allergic reaction to console her.

I whispered a few words of repentance as I whipped out my cell-phone and began taking pictures, as well as a video to send to Mitsuki. Not that I really needed to. The circle of flashes and red record buttons was enough to tell me just how many copies of this would end up on the Internet.

Call me selfish, but there are definitely worse ways to end my crime life.

**End Chapter**

**-X-**

**(1) **Aren't I a sly cat? She's listening to a song by Light's Japanese Seiyuu (Voice actor)! Haha, just a small thing I wanted to put in there because I'm listening to it myself... and enough of that. Okay, I guess no one shares my horrible dry humor *cries*

If you haven't realized who Looker and T-Rex are, you need to go sort out your life. Right about now. Is your life sort out yet? Awesome.

ALSO if my University facts weren't correct, wouldn't mind a heads up! I have an overall idea as to how it works and I have cousins in University themselves, but god knows if they're lying to me or just fooling around and making things up to spite me D:

OMFGOMFG... HMM... WHAT ELSE DID I WANT TO SAY...

Oh. Right. Who's your bias?

**L Lawliet **or **Light Yagami? Review (:**


	3. Serendipity :: Three ::

**Authoress:** Here's the next chappie! Hope you guys are enjoying it so far, because I've got A LOT in store for this story! (:

**Ryuk:** … :DDD

**Authoress:** ...Uhh... *Tosses apple up and down* Ryuk?

**Ryuk**: Huh? *Eyes apple* OH! Oh right! The Authoress doesn't own any rights to Death note or its characters!

**Authoress:** But I sure wish I did! Ain't that a bitch! *Throws Ryuk the apple* Enjoy Chapter Three! ^^

**-X-**

**Chapter Three: Serendipity  
_revamped: 12/19/2011_**

**-X-**

It was a dark alleyway with a cliché dead end, the walls stained with remnants of dried blood and urine. I watched through drooped eyelids as she rounded the corner, too busy texting on her phone to look up. It took a few paces before she noticed her mistake, put her phone away and shuffled backwards, but a hand reached out from the darkness and grasped a hold of her wrist. I narrowed my eyes further as she struggled, being forcefully dragged into the pit of blackness.

"... A uracil in the third position of an anticodon can pair with A or... G..."

The passersby on the street turned a blind eye, walking past with shielded faces and pretending to be occupied with their phones. _Shameless._ I grimaced, legs tingling from the sensation of wanting to get up and jump out the window to save her.

_No. Don't stop fighting. Scream._ As if following my orders, she shrieked.

"Sffff-... Sfff-eey..nu-sonu...?

Finally, a man stumbled out of the store and dashed to her rescue, grabbing her shoulders and pulling her out of the shadows, before whipping out a hammer and a cell-phone in the other hand readily pressed to his ear. A gang of six spat at his legs, coming out of the darkness in ripped, dirtied pullovers with cigarettes and bottles of beer. The man ushered the woman into his store and I relaxed, eyes half-lidding again.

"Aherm... Ray-san!"

Sato nudged my leg with his knee. I flinched. "Yes!"

The classroom filled with muffled giggling; distinctly more females than males, and I blushed considerately. The teacher, Mr. Matsumoto, raised an unimpressed brow at me, sighing as he turned around. I hadn't even noticed him pacing the isles.

"No sleeping in my class, Ray-san," he reprimanded. I blinked, about to argue that I hadn't been sleeping, but perhaps from the distance and my narrow eyes, it had come off like that. Plus I hadn't responded when he called my name, so the evidence was all against me. Blushing, I bowed my head politely and muttered an adequately loud apology. He gave a faint smile.

I sighed, cheeks still tinted pink. He continued to ask one of the girls seated in the first row a question about the lesson. I snuck a glance up at Sato, seated next to me on the right. He was grinning cheekily like a little kid. I smiled back sheepishly, embarrassed at my lack of interest in today's topic. I wasn't as caught up as I'd like to be, and the teachers always seems to be lecturing on something I had no idea about, so zoning out just came naturally. However, what I liked about university was that you could typically get away with zoning out or having side conversations during lectures. It didn't take me to understand why: whether or not you listened to the teacher was not their problem, and who's to say you can't listen and do something at the same time? It'd be your own fault for wasting your money to attend university (especially with To-Oh being so expensive), so not listening would be your own loss. The only thing I'd noticed is that the professors here will let you do almost anything as long as you're not distracting, getting up to walk around the class, and sleeping — which was disrespectful and meant for a fact that you were not listening.

"Hey," Sato whispered, "Di'you get a haircut or something?"

I nodded, pulling the beanie a ways off my head for him to see my natural hair. With the missions over, and my old line of work officially cut from my life, there was no use to wearing a wig anymore to mask my natural hair, and it was less time consuming to not have to do anything with my hair in the morning. It was cut just several centimeters shorter than my wig, so it would look like I had a trim, and it would explain the slight change in the shade of brown. I hadn't wanted to bring my wig to the salon and tell them to make it the exact same, so I just chose a few shades of brown from a catalogue that I liked: which mostly included dark chocolate browns. Still, once I got home and compared the shades, I realized that I had done a pretty good job of keeping the difference to a minimum. Only people who saw me as much as Sato did daily would notice, and probably only them. Still, I had gone through the liberty of wearing a hat today, and luckily none of the teachers had called me on it.

Sato whistled lowly and gave me a once over, with a wiggle of his eyebrows. "Nice."

I chuckled and nudged him, whereas he just shrugged like it was completely normal for a straight male to do that to a guy friend.

**-X-**

I shoved my textbooks into my messenger bag and waved goodbye to Sato, who grinned from the door and went off with his gang of friends. Swinging my bag over my shoulder, I walked down the isle and gave the teacher a reverent bow.

"Ray-san, a moment, please." I halted my step and turned to face him, expression calm. He smiled just slightly. "Your teachers and I have been concerned about your studies lately. We understand that the transition between a Western education system to Eastern can be difficult, so if there's anything that you feel we can improve on, or something you need help with, don't hesitate at all to speak up."

I nodded slowly, embarrassed. "Thank you, Matsumoto-Sensei. I'll remember that."

He didn't dismiss me or nod his head, so I stayed still. He cleared his throat. "You know, Ray-san, Midterms are coming up, and it's nearing the Winter Holidays. If you need any help, I'll be more than happy to help you find a tutor."

"Not a problem, sir," I replied with a smirk. "I'm sure I'll be fine, but I'll hold you to your word."

He chuckled. "That is all. You may go."

I bowed, head completely lowered, as my bows always are, and stood straight up again to give him a departing nod. He beamed and bobbed his head before gluing his eyes back to his documents. I left my last class with my brain racing; worry filling my emotions, wondering what on earth I'd do.

**-X-**

L's black hair rustled furiously in the wind, his jet-black orbs framed with their usual dark halfmoons on the bottom. Watari stood supportively behind him, while Light and his father, Soichirou, had the honor of being beside the detective himself. At the moment, the rest of the Kira Investigation team was inside the Hotel, scraping up whatever bits of evidence and samples they could use.

He raised two arms for his own little handgun and tilted his head to the side. He made a motion of pulling the trigger and jerking the gun up, following with his eyes where the imaginary bullet would have gone in order to have hit the man.

After looking through all sources of footage, the detective had claimed that nothing and absolutely no traces of ibuprofen or even ecstasy had been dropped into any drinks. The drug had entered the victim's body through other means, and it was peculiar as to why the shooter would take such a difficult alternative.

Unless it wasn't very difficult at all.

"This is the spot directly where the shooter was standing," Soichirou furrowed his brows. "A curved bullet?"

"Conceivably." L lowered his hands, a thumb straying to his mouth out of habit. Light's frown remained unreadable. "Watari."

Watari stepped forward, knowing of L's need for his knowledge of marksmanship. "For a bullet in a standard barrel, to curve it in such a sharp angle is very much impossible to achieve, however, taken into consideration the size of the bullet found in the Hotel room, a bullet of that size and the strong winds that occurred that day... it's possible. Albeit the expertise, and calculation to achieve it is rather... what should be the best word to describe it?"

The four men recalled on the blurry footage of the mysterious shooter appearing atop the very building they stood upon. He or she had stood silently observing for a long period of time, before picking up the first rock and watching it fall. Then, the shooter picked up the second rock, tossed it several times up into the air and launched it forward. Even in the footage, they could hear the faintest echo of the 'clink' as it hit probably one of the light poles. In so little time, the criminal had calculated the potential courses of the bullet, and timed it perfectly so that it went through the spinning doors at the exact right moment. Even with a wind gage, it was all too...

"Inhuman," Watari concluded.

**-X-**

"Ryuuzaki-san, please come over here for a second," Touta Matsuda exclaimed, squatting to the floor. L's straying finger fell from his mouth and was shoved into his pocket as he leisurely strolled over.

"According to the hair we found at the scene..." Touta typed several things into the transmitter, hitting the enter key. On the screen, flashed a bright red exclamation mark encompassed in a triangle: 'No results', it read. "We're coming out empty. The same thing happened with the fingerprints, the DNA samples... everything. The hotel got back to us and said that the elevator footage for the floor was missing. the camera on the 34th floor was also shot, so we have absolutely no idea who pulled the alarm, though we do have a possible of... all 80 residents who occupied or visited that floor in the hour. But since we have no DNA samples..."

L stared at the blinking red symbol, pupils reflecting the bright screen. He hummed, the low baritone voice stopping short once he turned around and his thumb made contact with his lips once again. Touta blinked, calling out the name of his Investigation head, only to get no reply.

_So, our criminal mind doesn't exist,_ L pondered, the tip of his tongue making brief contact with his thumb as his lips slightly parted.

_"Inhuman," Watari concluded._

"Perhaps we should stop the investigation on this case and leave it to the regular police force investigation team," Soichirou suggested, walking up next to L from behind. "The imbursement offered would only financially assist us briefly and my grasp is that we still are, and remain the main team responsible for the Kira Case. And, you were against doing this project in the first place. This is taking up more time than we predicted."

L kept silent. The payment for this case was _stupidly _high, as the man who had been thoroughly embarrassed that day was a rich millionaire with little to no room for shame. He was willing to pay a vast amount of money for the polive force to prioritise his case over others - a selfish request, really, with all the murders and assaults happening in present time - and while L thought it was going to be quick and easy case with a reward to relish in...

Light was slightly occupied with mid-terms coming up, despite saying he didn't such free time, but Soichirou and his mother wanted him to take a break from the case and study. L doubted that someone of Light's caliber of intelligence needed 'study time'. Not to mention the death and leave of many of his investigators made Light's leave fairly inconvenient. L was short on people, and he wasn't getting anywhere with this new case. It was only a downside that this particular case was beginning to intrigue him.

No footage. No DNA matches. No evidence whatsoever other than bullets and a blurry rooftop video.

"Report this case as dropped." Still, as the mutter left his mouth, L failed to speak unnerved. Another case he hadn't finished solving. Best not make a habit of it.

**-X-**

I blew out a long stream of air, fingers tapping against my lip as I read through the different transcripts of study material, and past examination sheets for me to test myself on. The library was quiet and offered the ideal study place, though with the amount of catching up I needed to do, it would still take me months, or weeks if I were lucky. I sighed, a groan leaving my lips at the same time, and I craned my neck back, bangs falling from my face despite the beanie still on my head. I liked the feeling of my natural hair, though. It wasn't as stuffy as a wig, and the feeling of wind blowing against my skull: amazing.

"Ray-kun?" I blinked back to reality. A few meters in front of my table was a girl in her teens, brown hair tied half-up, and a familiar face that I knew I had encountered before. Her name escaped me for several seconds.

"...Sayu?" I attempted. She pranced forward, a silly grin on her face, and I was relieved to know I had gotten it right.

"I can't believe I bumped into you here! Though I was wondering when I'd ever see you again, to be honest..." she chirped. I grinned, feeling a bit giddy that we had actually somehow met again in the giant city of Japan.

"Right. I forgot to give you my number, and I don't think it would have been awfully polite to drop by your house without warning. Though I wouldn't have minded if _you_decided to drop by and give me a visit," I said, smiling politely. Her cheeks tinted pink and nodded.

"W-well, for the same reasons as you! I didn't want to drop by without asking first..." She gulped, before her eyes also caught sight of the textbook in front of me. "Calculus? Oh riiiight! You're in To-Oh University! I told you that my brother goes there, right?"

"Yeah, you told me. One of the many reasons why I think we're destined, remember?" I smirked as she blushed even harder, eyes trying to trail anywhere but my face. How cute. "But I'm sure a girl as pretty as you must have a boyfriend."

"N-No!" she stammered, voice rising. I was surprised at how fast she had fallen — faster than most I had played with. I blushed in guilt, scratching my earlobe until I felt it heat up and turn red. Bad habit. "I don't have a boyfriend, but it's not like I..."

I glanced up, to meet her brown eyes right before they turned away. "... My parents would never let me, anyways. They're awfully strict when it comes to me dating, but they're completely fine when my brother gets a girlfriend! It's totally unfair!"

"That's because your brother's older, and he's a man. In this society, even with practically equal rights, it inarguable that if you went out alone at night, there's a much higher chance of something bad happening to you than something happening to your brother," I explained, watching her nod in apprehension.

"Guess you're right, but I still think they're over-reacting..." Her brow furrowed, and I was sure she was recalling on a recent memory of some sort. She glanced unsurely at me and smiled timidly. I inhaled: she must have been suspecting me of something. Perhaps she had said something to her parents, and they warned her to stay away from me? That seemed decent enough, if it was the case...

"Wait a second," Her hands dove into her bag as she retrieved a wad of paper and a clicking pen. "Here's my num–" I put my hand over hers, and laughed, pulling out my own cell phone. She blushed, lips pursing. "Oh. I thought that since it hadn't been a month, you wouldn't have had a cell phone ready, so..."

"Number?" I requested, and she read out her contact information while she pulled out her own cell from her pocket, clicking some buttons. I read out mine smoothly, watching her submit the numbers.

"How do you write your name?" Sayu asked, and I smiled, gesturing for her to pass her cell phone while I put in my last name in english. I passed her cell back, and she stared intently at it._"Rei-no... Sveinson."_

"You," I said, "remain the only one who's pronounced my last name correct in the entire time I've been in Japan."

She proceeded to beam, pride gleaming in her eyes. "Really? I was just repeating the way you pronounced it when you introduced yourself. Why do Western names have to be so weird?"

I grinned, opening my mouth to say something. "Sayu?"

I blinked. That wasn't my voice. Sayu stiffened in her seat. "Crap! I completely forgot that I had come here with my brother!" She stood up from her seat and looked around to see if he was near. I continued to stare stupidly ahead, blinking as she walked around the desk and looked through the shelves. She beckoned me over with her hand. "Come on, I'll introduce you guys! Light can help you with studying too: he's like, the top student of his grade at To-Oh!"

I nodded dumbly, not really knowing what to say as I closed my Calculus Textbook and began to put it in my bag. I sighed; wondering if meeting the so-called 'Top freshman at To-Oh' was really something to rejoice about.

"Over here, Light!" Sayu ushered. "I want you to meet someone: the guy I was talking about last week."

"The one you met at the airport?" rang a voice. The voice was soothing, and eerily smooth, almost to the point of fake. I fiddled with the textbook, eyes lowered as I braced myself for the first encounter. Meeting new people was risky, especially students at my own school. Rumors might spread, attention might be drawn, and that was the last thing I wanted.

"Yeah! Rayne, I'd like you to meet my brother, Light!" I closed the flap of my messenger bag. "And Light, this is Rayne! He goes to To-Oh, too."

I bowed courteously before straightening again. My eyes fell upon the same shocking eyes that I had stumbled across only several days ago, except I had mistaken the color for regular brown when it was really auburn. My brain quickly registered the rest of the handsome face; my eyes taking in his defined jaw line, thin lips, and composed expression for the first time at such a close range. I grinned the moment he laid eyes on me, his face hardening and tensing, and I knew he had recognized me, too.

"Pleased to be of your acquaintance," I extended a hand, "Light Yagami...-san."

His gaze was menacing, yet sinisterly serene. Two very opposite personality shown through his face alone, but I dared not venture my eyes to the rest of his body. He must have felt similarly, as his eyes refrained from lowering from my face. Very faintly, thinking I might have imagined it, a look of confusion and shock flitted across his facade before disappearing. His hand reached out, and took mine in a firm shake. "Likewise... Rayne-san."

I shrugged, retracting my hand back. "Call me Ray. My surname is too difficult for most Japanese to pronounce."

"Really?" His tone was bordering a mock, his gaze challenging.

"S-v-e-i-n-s-o-n," I tested.

"Sveinson," he answered flawlessly, accent faint behind his silk voice. I chuckled.

**"I guess that's to be expected from the top student at To-Oh,"** I went on speaking in English Dialect, my tone sarcastic and coming out more offensive than I had intended.

**"Your compliments are flattering,"** he replied without faltering. I smirked, impressed: devilishly handsome _and_ highly intelligent? I dreaded the day I'd encounter his line of rabid fangirls.

"Hey! Don't forget I'm still here!" Sayu pouted, before giving a pleading glance to her brother. "Light, can Ray-kun come over today?"

Light's expression furrowed, but one could still see the tender, 'goodhearted older brother' persona shooting out from him like laser beams. I stifled a laugh, wondering if he had an internal switch for that. "But Mom–"

"That's why you have to tell her that he's coming to study midterms with you! She can't say no if that's the case!" she begged, arms hooked around her older brother's. I shifted uncomfortably.

"I don't think that's a good idea, Sayu. Your brother doesn't know me that well, and I don't think your family would take kindly to a stranger coming into the house when you've known me for less than 24 hours... and to be honest, I really should be studying for Midterms. I'm er… _really_ behind."

Sayu sighed, letting go of her brother's sleeve. "Guess you're right, since you just transferred... So does that mean I can't come over to your house either?"

I blushed, my cheeks tinting red. I was only joking about that! She must have really fallen hard if she had taken it seriously, and... Was willing to say something like that in front of her brother. I was left speechless for a second, my brain failing to come up with something that didn't come off heartless, awkward, or label me a shameless player. "Actually, I don't think..."

"It's fine," Light ultimately intercepted, gaze fixated on me. "Sveinson-san can come over to study with me, seeing as he's having difficulty."

My pink cheeks remained hot thanks to his kindness as I speechlessly bowed again. He sighed. "Let's go. Mom phoned five minutes ago. She's already making dinner."

**-X-**

I shifted uncomfortably in the wooden chair, despite the flimsy pad cushioning my behind. I held the chopsticks firm in my hand, carefully chewing on the chicken, savoring its taste. A meal cooked by a mother was an honor that I'd never had the privilege of eating.

"You're from America, but you use chopsticks so well!" Sachiko, Light and Sayu's mother, commented politely. I refrained from saying anything that might be impolite, despite being a bit offended at the stupid pretense that Americans couldn't use chopsticks. "I hope the dishes suit your taste."

I nodded fervently, before fixing my beanie back in place. "I-It's delicious! I haven't had a meal like this since... ever. I'm extremely grateful."

She smiled, glowing from the compliment just a bit, but staying humble. "How polite! Are the dishes your mother make also delicious?"

I grinned back brightly. "Mum doesn't like making dinner much. I usually just cook up some pasta or instant noodles."

She nodded, gesturing towards the dishes. "In that case, help yourself! You want to have a full stomach when studying with Light. When did the two of you meet?"

Light took the liberty of initiating the response, "Just a few weeks ago," just as my mouth blurted, "Yesterday on campus."

Sachiko blinked, giving us a confused smile, perhaps understanding that something was up, though she didn't pry. "So for a while, I suppose?"

I nodded glumly, giving Light a brief side-glance. He looked up just milliseconds after I did and we caught each other in a staring contest for two seconds before looking away. I heaved a sigh, and I heard him clear his throat. Sayu nibbled delicately at the tip of her chopsticks, eying us suspiciously.

**-X-**

"Take a seat," Light gestured to a swiveling grey chair as he walked over to his bookshelf to retrieve several reference books and textbooks. I looked around his room, neat, organized, and thoroughly deprived of clutter. The sheets on his bed were folded, and his shelves all tidied with no jumbles with items balancing on top of each other. There weren't any piles of dirty clothes, or video game stacks, posters, or even models of cars, and most of all it smelled... clean.

This _could not _be a university student's room.

"Actually, uh, Yagami-kun, I shouldn't-..." My sentence trailed off as he gave me a hard look.

"You didn't actually think I was going to let you come over to play with my sister, did you?" His gaze was challenging, even more so than the one in the library. The fact that Sayu and his mother weren't here to be suspicious must have been allowing him to let loose a bit.

I blushed, cheeks crimson, and probably making me look guiltier than I really was. "No. I just thought that letting me into your room would be too much, since being in your house is already invasive, so..."

"It's fine," He dropped a pile of books onto his bed. "You can study at my desk. We won't have to bother each other."

I nodded and cautiously took a seat in his grey swivel chair, pulling out my Calculus textbook from my bag and sighing, flipping it back to the page I was on. I scratched at my beanie and pulled it off, the heat too much to bear. I ran my fingers through my hair and sorted a few bangs in place, my eyes never leaving the text.

_A vine is observed to wrap around a tree as it grows in the forest. This is an example of ... I exhaled heavily, the end of my pen against my lip. A: Gravitropism, B: Phototropism, C: Thigmotropism. D: Photoperiodism... Or E: Phototaxis. It should be ... Gravitropism? That's the growth in response to gravitational force, but the vine... it could... Agh!_ I winced, the stress starting to get to my head. Second-guessing myself was never something I liked doing, and studying was seriously leading to a lot of second-guesses. I grumbled, ruffling my hair.

I heard the shuffling of someone outside of Light's door and faint muttering, recognizing the voice to be Sayu's. I blushed and meekly looked back at Light, but his gaze was still hard and scrutinizing. He must have heard it too. I looked back at my page, musing that maybe he was still mad at me for jokingly flirting with his sister. I hesitantly turned around in the swivel chair.

"Hey, Light-..." I watched him tense at the sound of his own name and immediately corrected myself. "Ah, Yagami-kun, I mean... Just to clear things up, I'm not interested in your sister..."

At this, his eyebrows twitched, as did the corner of his mouth. I could tell how hard he was trying not to frown or fully glare at me. I gulped; was he one of those really protective brothers who don't want me dating her, and yet don't want me saying anything bad about her? Geez! Why's he so irritated? "That is... not that your sister isn't adorable and really pretty, because she is, but you really don't have to worry about us getting together, because frankly, she's not-"

"How you feel about my little sister does not concern me," he spoke, words crystal clear and with composed diction; yet the sharp edge to it was hard to miss. He closed his book softly, but I couldn't miss the annoyance in his actions. The way his fingers clasped around the binding just enough for the tip of his fingers to turn unnaturally white. He got up from his bed and walked over to his shelf to put the book away.

I frowned, his little act starting to chisel holes into my wall. I thought maybe his good looks were started to get to me. "Then I take it that you're just usually this ill-mannered without any reason?"

He turned, expression calm, but clearly bordering on losing his patience before the look softened and he looked confounded. I cleared my throat, looking down guiltily. I had used some of my natural snappiness at him. I was still a guest, in his room and house. "I didn't mean to say that. Sorry. It was rude of me..." I bit my lip and took my textbook from his table, shoving it into my bag. I stood up and headed for the door. "I'll go-"

"It's fine," he said, blocking my path. He had said that quite a number of times within our encounter, and each time he said it, I felt as if I had guilt tripped him into doing it, making me feel guilty myself. "I'll help you with your studying."

"No, I'm alright, I..." I looked up at him expectantly. "You will?"

He blinked, slightly fazed. "You're never going to finish studying at the rate you're going. I wasn't really in the mood for reviewing alone, anyway. They say you learn more when you teach it to others."

I nodded, feeling a bit too overjoyed. I took a seat again after he gestured me towards the chair and propped open my textbook, flipping to the page I was on and pointing at the question. I heard him intake a quiet breath and hold it, the corners of his upper lip threatened to turn up, and his eyebrows furrowed, the same reaction someone might have to seeing something surprising or revolting.

"...You're really far behind."

"Yeah... Dropping in a few weeks before mid-terms is seriously not a good idea, especially since I..." I shifted uncomfortably._ Since I haven't ever been to school before, and I've never been formally taught any of this. Textbooks can only teach me so much; they were so vague and biased._ "...I'm not that smart to begin with."

He didn't say anything in reply, but stared at the question before looking over at me and asking, "So what did you think it was?"

"Uh.. Gravitropism?" He frowned. "Or... Thigmotropism...?"

"That's right," he answered, and I exhaled in relief that I wasn't totally off the track. "Thigmotropism is a plant's growth in response to touch, which is why the vine is wrapping around the tree, not because of gravity."

I nodded, scratching at my chin. "Right, that makes sense: touch. Next question!"

In a few seconds, I said, "Endodermis?" and looked over at him, realizing that he was still reading. He seemed to look at me in shock for a second. I blushed, realizing that I read a lot faster than most individuals despite feeling a big smug that I had read faster than the top freshman at To-oh. "I... I read through all the questions before hand..."

He nodded; jaw tight. "Endodermis is correct."

The next hours followed a similar pattern, with me getting most of the answers right during the practice problems, occasionally stammering out two or three answers when I wasn't sure which one was accurate. Light was surprisingly patient with me, which I hadn't been expecting. He stopped sucking in his breath and holding it every time I got the wrong answer, or when I took too long to answer. Maybe the surroundings were more familiar by now, or I knew that section of the textbook better, but after ten minutes, I started getting all the questions right, which I think surprised Light himself at the progress I was making. By the end of each unit, I was gaining confidence, and less second-guessing of my answers, which lead to correct, single answers nearly each time. Occasionally, when Light was about to ask me a hard question, he'd do this adorable smirk and I'd fall into a traitorous blush, but I had the decency to look away, pretend to get the question wrong, or admit to it's difficulty so it would look like I was embarrassed instead of attracted to his boyish good-looks.

"Do you have your calculus down?" I grinned.

"It's the only thing I have some confidence in. Go on, shoot." He glanced up at me, expression calm, but eyes glinting with mischief and challenge.

"Question 48," he recited, and I smirked, eyes gliding through the words flawlessly.

'On a certain day, the changes in the temperature in a greenhouse beginning at 12 noon are represented by 'f(t)= sin(t/2)' degree Fahrenheit, where 't' is the number of hours elapsed after 12 noon. If at 12 noon, the temperature is 95 degrees Fahrenheit, find the temperature in the greenhouse at 5 p.m.' I smirked, knowing this easily, and began the calculations on the calculator. Light watched me carefully, eyes on my face as I concentrated, leaning back and sighing. Mumbling numbers and functions to myself, I leaned forward again and smiled at him. "98.602 degrees Fahrenheit."

"... You used mental arithmetic?"

"But I used a calculator... Should I have written down the calculation process?" He watched me carefully in thought and I blinked, feeling a bit embarrassed. He seemed to finish his musings, as he suddenly looked down to hide his face. He looked up later, eyes on the book.

"During the exam, yes, you'll have to write it down."

I nodded. "Did I get the wrong answer?"

Light looked at me strangely, and began rapidly writing down the calculation progress. My eyes watched his hands glide across the post-it note. His hand almost looked as if it was vibrating, and not writing anything at all, but sure enough, the text appeared under the shadow of his hand. His strokes were quick and efficient, and it seemed as if it was just too familiar or routinely. "... The temperature in the greenhouse at 5 p.m. is 98.602 degrees Fahrenheit. Correct."

"Stand up," he ordered, and I looked at him in alarm, ready to stammer an apology for whatever I had done, be it taking his time or breathe in too much of his air, or maybe he had finally noticed me shamelessly checking him out. He looked at me strangely. "Stretch. Pace around with if you want."

It took me only a second or so for me to understand that he meant to take a break. I grinned and swiveled away to get up from the seat and stretch. "You think I could go down to get a drink?"

He replied with a murmur, but he was no longer facing me and even my skillfully trained ears couldn't pick up the words. I shrugged it off and walked down the stairs, greeting Mrs. Yagami with a bright smile. Her back was still facing me as she fumbled with something on the counter out of my view.

"How's the studying? Oh! Are you leaving so soon?" I shook my head.

"No, Li- Yagami-san suggested that I take a break. I was wondering if I could have a glass of water to drink?" She nodded and proceeded to take a mug out from a shelf, filling it with water from the machine. I bowed a sincere thank you, and took the mug, about to turn back upstairs.

"Here, take this with you." She held out the large tray of fruit, and I couldn't help but blush. There was a plate of cut up fruits and on the other side were a few uncut apples, pears and oranges.

"Th-thank you so much! This is really kind of you…" I bowed my head several times, taking the tray with gratitude. "It wasn't necessary for you to do this. I'm grateful."

She giggled. "My, aren't you the sweetest thing? No need to be polite; go on and have a productive study period, okay?"

Feeling touched, I nodded since I was unable to bow with the tray in my hands and went back up the stairs and into Light's room. He glanced up at the sound of me entering and stared at the tray in my hands, and back at me. I explained that his mother had prepared it for us and he instructed me to just put it on his bed. I made not sure not to spill anything over the edge as I lowered onto his sheets, suddenly aware of a heavy atmosphere settling within the room.

His glassy auburn orbs caught mine as we stared each other down again. I was the first to look away, but only because I was certain it wasn't another staring contest. I didn't know why he was looking at me, now, but his lack of a response was beginning to feel eerie.

"Do you live with your parents?" It was my turn to look at him now, emotions locked tightly away from my expression. I quirked an eyebrow at him.

"Why do you ask?"

He closed his eyes and rotated around so that he wasn't facing me anymore. "Nothing. I was only wondering why you never phoned to tell them you were here. It's getting late."

I glanced swiftly at the small clock by his desk. It read 7:20 pm. Did I come off to him as a goody-two-shoes kind of guy? 7:20 was hardly considered late at all, and I was a university student: _male,_ nonetheless. Did I strike him as the type to never be out late from home? Sure, I might bow a little more than average, but-

My lips parted as my thoughts rounded the corner, the answer smack dab in front of me. No. That wasn't it. Years of being a con-artist had taught me to see past the words, and into the meaning.

This was my 'invitation out'.

"Now that you mention it," I stepped in front of his open blinds. His room wasn't very bright to begin with other than his desk light and bedside lamp. Even outside, since we were going into December, the nights had gotten colder and it was only a matter of time until Winter Solstice. I backed away from the window upon gazing out at the lit streetlights and looked back at him. "It's getting dark, and I'm walking home. I should get going now, since I've got something I have to do before I get home, anyway."

"Thanks for… tutoring me," I nodded reverently to express my gratitude. The word 'studying' didn't seem right, so I settled for something more degrading of me and depicting him a generous light, hopefully to ease the tension. His eyes met with mine briefly for a departing nod as he got out of his seat and led me downstairs where his mother had sat down to watch some television. She looked over and spotted me. I gave her another smile and put my hand in a wave as she made her way over.

"Leaving so soon? But you just brought the fruit up!" I grinned sheepishly as I explained that it would be best I get going because of the time. She gave in pretty easily, though she seemed genuinely sad that I had to go. It was the same expression customers used to have when I told them that I was all sold out of the cake they wanted. I cut myself off when Sayu came down the stairs, face looking a bit devastated.

"You're leaving already?" Even her mom sported a suspicious look at her daughter's reaction. Besides, for all she knew, I was Light's friend, not Sayu's.

"I've bothered Yagami-kun, here, plenty enough. I should be making my way home, now. Besides, I also need to pick something up before I return home, so I'd best be going while it's not too dark outside."

She frowned, nodding grimly. She mumbled a sad bye, made the gesture of e-mailing (texting) me, and I nodded back. Slipping on my shoes and adjusting my bag, I gave Light one last glance before he opened the door for me. His eyes didn't even venture near my face. Odd.

"See you around," I remarked inaudibly, slowly jogging out of their house with a loud thank you and another goodbye. Once I heard the sound of the door closing, I dared to look back. I could see the open curtains of Light's room. Wondering why I had glanced back in the first place, I figured that I should look away before he saw me staring–

Just as I turned my head away, I saw a flash of something in the window and quickly looked back, a bit startled. Eyebrows furrowed, my lips parted a bit to let my warm breath come out in puffs against the cold air.

I stared at it for a solid second before it suddenly flew out of view from the window. I squinted my eyes. There was no way I imagined that: not with my eyesight. Plus, I had clearly seen it in the window, floating there as if held up by an imaginary string and then yanked out of view. I pursed my lips, hands tightening over my satchel as I spun around and continued to walk before I accidentally made eye contact with a certain mood-swinging Yagami in his window. Having him catch me creepily staring into his room was not something to be proud of.

At any rate, I couldn't shake the perplexing image out of my head. I hadn't imagined it. Albeit the more I thought about it, the more puzzling it seemed, until it eventually settled into an irritation. Now I was second-guessing myself. _Had_ I imagined it? Maybe it wasn't what I thought it was, but it still didn't explain why I saw it through the window. It just didn't make sense.

A red apple had been mysteriously floating in Light Yagami's room.

**End Chapter.**

**-X-**

YEHH. No cliff-hanger, but let that get you thinking. Yeup. WHAT WILL I DO NEXT? OHOHOHOH *gets slapped* Okay… ending remarks. Right.

I have the next few chapters thought out for this story already, so hopefully updates will come a little more smoothly (:

Hope you enjoyed that progression. She figured out Looker's Name and has officially been acquainted with him! Woohoo!

Eventually, I'll bring in a bit of third person, but just a bit. Not as much as the rest of my stories right now, but enough to add some more color into the plot. Hope you guys won't mind that.

If you haven't already told me, I'd like to know your preference~ Lawliet or Yagami? Or maybe _both? ;)_

**Reviewing suggestions&comments would definitely be appreciated, as would alerting or favoriting.**

Otherwise, thank you so much for reading this far, and I'll try to get the next chapter up soon! I'll try my best! ^^


	4. Transpiration :: Four ::

HEYHEYHEY LOVELY PEOPLEZ.

Haha, finally, your update is here! Special thanks to _ALL OF YOU GUYS WHO LEFT ME LONG REVIEWS!_ Gosh, you have no idea how hard it is to find readers who give some solid constructivecrit, and it's very flattering that you guys spent the time up to type all that to me! And I've taken your suggestions and advise to heart (: Though _LovelyWeather_... I'm guilty of diverting from the first person POV in this chapter, directly after you suggested I not... BUT I'M TRYING MY BEST I REALLY AM *FOAMS IN MOUTH*.

Sorry for not sticking with one point of view though, guys. I know it's annoying and I try not to use it unless I think it provides a bigger, valuable picture! IMMA TRY TO PRESS DOWN MY AMATEUR WRITING TENDENCIES *GEH*

Anyway, enough of my immature babblings! Onward!

**-X-**

**Chapter Four: Transpiration**

**-X-**

I licked my chapped lips, curing them of their aridity, and breathed out another trail of warm air. My ears were tingling slightly from the cold of the autumn night, and my hands were dug deep into my pockets. The streets behind me were still bustling with cars, their head lights illuminating the wall in front of me several times a second as they drove past. I furrowed my brows and calculated some costs in my mind briefly. Was the rent in Japan usually this high? Maybe this was a nice neighborhood, or the landlords were just fucking around to see which poor lad they could snatch with their pricey demands. With a scowl on my face, I turned around and walked away from the empty shop front, signs adorning the front with different options for rent and empty retailers.

There were a few men hanging around the front of my apartment when I got there, dressed in ripped clothing and reeking of drugs and alcohol. I paid them no heed as I made my way to the elevator, ignoring their vulgar threats to come to me in my sleep. I pressed the up button and waited patiently.

"Y'got a pretty fine ass, lady." I kept my gaze straight, unwavering from the metallic sheen of the doors. The acrid smell of alcohol and other substances was growing stronger. My eyes glided to my right, where an unshaven chin was jutted out towards me. "When'sit open?"

_Where's that fucking revolver when you need it?_

"If it's _you _who's asking," I spat, getting into the elevator by going under his outstretched arm. "It's closed twenty-four hours."

Just as life would have it, the guy refused to leave me alone as he began swearing and cursing me with insults that usually would have caused me to double-take and spit a few back, but my time wasn't up for grabs and I was _not _giving them the time of day. I frowned deeper when he and his friends got into the elevator with me, but just as they tried to lay a finger on me, I bolted out and past them, rounding the corners to the stairs. I caught a glimpse of the worried reception pointing at us, shouting urgent words into the phone. At least they had the decency to call them security and the cops, but they seriously should have phoned for help much earlier.

My legs launched me over to the fire exits where I hurtled up the staircases, flinging my legs over each platform with ease to gain distance and speed from my pursuers. They were loud and noisy following far behind me; and most likely disoriented from the amount of substances they had consumed throughout the course of the night.

With each calculated step, I increased momentum. Tripping several times as I propelled myself up and across the railings, I immediately regained my balance each time; glad I was in comfortable clothes. Ultimately I reached the door of the twenty-second floor and twisted the handle to lead me out into the corridor. Closing the door silently behind me, they wouldn't know which floor I got off of, so I began my casual strut down the hall and pressed the elevator button for up, fixing my rustled clothes and regaining my violent breath.

I listened carefully for their rowdy chatter from the other side of the wall, but only silence entered my ears. I had figured they were a ways behind when my eyes snapped wide as I heard the fire escape door open loudly, breaking the sound barrier between us. I grumbled: the elevator was still on the fucking ground floor!

They rounded the corner, eyes glistening and mouths turning upwards at the sight of me. Several instantly turned back to shout into the escape, 'Down here!' so I figured they were so committed to the search that they had briefly explored each floor entrance to find me. Letting out a heavy sigh, I bent my knees, widening them shoulder width, and braced myself for close combat, something I wasn't awfully good at. I was a strong sharpshooter, and although I knew a bit about self-defense, I was rarely put in a position where it was necessary for me to initiate anything I had learned about, making me fairly out of practice.

Obviously, I was unarmed. It would be far too suspicious for me to carry guns and weapons around with me, making it so that my blowgun with a sleeping drug wasn't at my disposal.

Gritting my teeth, I stood my ground as they let out a loud battle cry and charged, all before their strangled voices were abruptly cut off one by one. Their eyes rolled back in their sockets just before they lidded completely and they fell forward to the ground. I looked up at the figure in the doorway behind them.

An old man stood between the doorframe of his room, needle gun raised and pointed directly at me.

"You need not worry," His old voice was laced carefully with a London accent, "I will not shoot you. I simply put them to sleep."

I glowered at him. Who was he to come to my rescue without any calling? From the way he was dressed in a fancy suit, he didn't look like any apartment security guard – and he certainly wasn't the age requirement. He came straight out from the apartment room, which _would_ mean he was a resident.

A resident equipped with a needle gun, coming to my rescue without any means of me crying out for help.

I straightened, hands and feet still alert in the case of anything. In the end, he was the one with a sedative weapon ready to use.

"Thank you," I finally spoke. "I... would've had to resort to fighting if you hadn't showed up."

"Yes. Gave them quite a chase, you did. They were rather noisy bunch coming up the stairs. I could hear you from inside the room."

I looked past his shoulder. Inside the room, it was dark except for a small illumination, as if a computer screen was on.

_Odd._

"Perhaps you should make your way to your room. When the guards come up, I will be sure to—"

There was something much too strange about the entire situation, so I interrupted him rudely. "Excuse my manners for cutting you off, but... may I learn the name of my humble savior?"

He studied me silently, unmoving. "Pardon my own disrespect for not introducing myself to you, young man. I am referred to as Watari."

"Watari-san. I am referred to as Rayne." I smiled softly. "Now, there's just something I'm curious about. I'm just a bit... lost. A man comes out from a room with a needle gun in hand, shooting down my pursuers without me shouting out for him. It's all very... staged, for lack of a better word."

I tried my best to lock eyes with him through his wrinkled lids, not prevailing to any level of victory. "This is a high-class apartment. I would know: I live here. But even though I live here, I had no idea absolutely no idea that the staircases were soundproof until I stood in this very spot and heard absolutely _nothing _until they pushed open the door."

"Which means that you have a particular way of knowing what happens in this building. For instance, cameras hooked up and broadcasted directly to you through screens in that very room, which would explain that creepy iridescent glow flickering behind you," I slid my hands casually into my jean pockets, "or you're lying to me. Of course, there's always the very high possibility that you're guilty of _both, _Watari-san."

Just to prove I was right, a dead silence head between us until noise erupted through the opening of the fire escape door. The elevator doors opened and two officers stepped out, followed by two rounding the corner from the staircase. They stopped to witness the situation, expressions turning grave in bewilderment.

"Are you alright?" One asked me. They were equipped with guns in their belts with other firearms and tools. Two instantly started reporting through their radio devices and cautiously maneuvering the unconscious guys. "Can you tell me your name, and what happened here?"

"I'm Rayne Sveinson, several floors up. Born on the Sixteenth of October, 1988 (1). I think you already know the overall jist, but they chased me up until this floor. I shouted for help, and that gentleman over there," I gestured over to Watari with a jab of my thumb, "came out with his handy dandy gun thing and the next thing I knew, they were blacked out in front of me."

"I see," he said, the other jotting things down in a notepad. "Are you—"

I grinned naturally at him. "Not hurt anywhere. All I want right now is to get home and get some rest."

He cleared his throat, probably unhappy with my rudeness. "That's understandable. You just ran up twenty floors, you must be tired."

"Awesome. I'll be going," I grinned and gingerly leaned past him to press the up button on the elevator.

"Have a good night, Rayne-san. If anything happens, be sure to report to the police." I nodded, relieved they weren't going to bombard me with questions and an interrogation like they would usually. I'm sure they were more curious about Watari, the old men who had shot the men with the needle gun, but when I looked over, they weren't questioning him whatsoever.

_Very. Odd._

"Thank you, Watari-san. I owe you one. Maybe I'll drop by later on and treat you to a nice dinner," I joked, watching as he smiled faintly and nodded. I looked over to the officer and grinned at him. "Thanks to you too."

"Anytime, miss," he replied dutifully. I sighed.

"And... this is kind of awkward, but I'm a guy. I don't really appreciate being called 'Miss', officer."

"O-oh? I-I'm sorry, Rayne-san. I wasn't aware—" I chuckled as he stammered, red in the face.

"No worries. Those guys thought the same anyway." The elevator doors opened with a ringing bell sound and I stepped in, giving Watari one last glance. "Night, Watari-san. Evening, officers."

With several nods and departing words, the elevator doors closed, and I was left with unsure thoughts of who that old man was.

**-X-**

L found himself considerably amused.

It was so rare that such a coincidence would occur. The percentages added up to a mild six percent. For Tokyo to be such a large place with so many different hotels and apartments to choose from, _that boy _showed up at the base of L's current temporary residence, also claiming to live there.

Under normal circumstances, L would not have bothered to survey the outside perimeters for suspicious activity. It was the simple fact that he was busy nibbling on his cheesecake that he hadn't the distraction of mind to reach out and disable the surveillance cameras. In doing so, he would not have caught of _him _and been able to watch the spectacle unravel so brilliantly.

From the moment that _Rayne _character had remained so skillfully calm in the face of their disruption, L's round black orbs had darted naturally over to the monitor, vibrant with sudden interest on the luminescent screen. Instant recognition lit inside his skull, triggering the faint memory of his facial features several days ago when they had first seen each other outside in the field, then in the hallways. How peculiar that they would see each other here... Or that one would see the other, since L's presence was unknown to the opposing.

The detective's finger scarcely had any option but to press the button for view of the fire escape stairways of the building, eyes following loyally with the fluttering of Rayne's jacket behind him as he threw himself over the railings to allow for a faster projectile pathway.

And finally, catching Watari's bluff: a surprising feat that the genius would not have expected. Observant was hardly the word to illustrate it. The instant Watari appeared in the doorway, instead of thanking him and not questioning his savior, his guard only rose and L watched with interest as his subject's gaze refused to waver from the figure in the doorway. It was as if Rayne was more intimidated by Watari than his initial pursuers.

L's thumb brushed past his lips as he began his habitual fingernail biting.

_Interesting._

The way he had answered the police proved him to be familiar with their interrogation questions. Rayne had dealt with police before.

He had deliberately feigned innocence in their face, going as far as to call Watari's needle gun a 'handy dandy gun thing' when he had known exactly what it was called. He claimed to have called for help when he hadn't, in order to ward off trouble for Watari and convenience him.

Not that he needed that convenience. The police knew exactly who resided in their current room, and they were informed beforehand of Watari's presence. Watari would go through no interrogation.

_"Which means that you have a particular way of knowing what happens in this building. For instance, cameras hooked up and broadcasted directly to you through screens in that very room, which would explain that creepy iridescent glow flickering behind you," Rayne slid my hands casually into his jean pockets, "or you're lying to me. Of course, there's always the very high possibility that you're guilty of _both,_ Watari-san."_

L nibbled violently on the nail of his thumb. Rayne had hit the bull's-eye, no room for error.

_Very. Interesting._

**-X-**

I came out from my hot shower, flicking on the vent switch. With a towel in one hand, I rustled my damp hair to soak up the water and walked out to my balcony. It was a little past ten at this point, and the sky was a dark valley of grey in contrast to the silver crescent moon.

I sucked in the fresh air, marveling at the tiny lights underneath me. I was dressed in only a thin T-shirt and loose athletic shorts that reached a few inches short of my knees. Despite the cold air whipping at my skin and blowing past my damp hair, my attention wasn't on how bitter the cold was.

I was on the 26th floor, just a little ways up from the 22nd, which was the floor I had gotten off at in hopes of losing my chasers, and also the floor Watari was on. I nibbled on the inside of my mouth as I concentrated.

The room Watari got out of was directly next to the elevator on the East side. I was also on the east side, meaning that if we were on the same floor, we'd be merely 6 rooms away from each other.

I looked down at the cascade of windows and balconies below me, using my fingers to carefully jump from room to room, gridding the building out.

_That one. _My finger landed four ranks down with a domain of positive six. I rested my chin on my palm, eyes watching for any flutter of movement from inside. The curtains remained drawn, as did the blinds and windows: all covered up. Nothing very suspicious, seeing as it was late and people don't want others to see into their personal space. It was hardly anything to mull over, but I was still curious about that room and Watari.

It wasn't a big deal that he had lied to me; people often do for uncomplicated reasons anyway. 'We heard you coming up' was a lot simpler of an explanation than 'we have cameras hooked up in this room, so I decided to come out and help you out'. It was also less confusing and suspicious. There was no doubting my initial guess; that there really was cameras' feedback hooked up inside. How else could he have known I was coming up, and at _his _particular floor, nonetheless?

Then there was the factor of coincidence. I walked over the right side of my balcony and leaned over the railing, eyes still trained on the dark, lifeless room. How was it that I just happened to land myself on the floor he was on, and he could conveniently come to my rescue? If I had landed on any other floor, he probably wouldn't have been there to sedate those men for me. What were the chances?

It was all so strange, and I wasn't used to being 'outsmarted' like that.

I ventured back into my apartment, the goose bumps on my skin informing me of how cold my body really was. I closed the sliding glass door and drew the curtains together to obstruct my view of the outside. Taking a seat in my office chair, I turned on my desk light and flipped open my textbook to revise.

**-X-**

"Store space?" Sato repeated after I had told him of my predicament. It was the morning, and I had showed up nearly half an hour early, coincidentally meeting Sato at the door. Taking our seats next to each other, I took advantage of the empty classroom to start a conversation with him that might help me in my search for my future business location.

"You're planning to open up something yourself? Just after transferring to To-Oh and moving to Japan less than a month ago? That's pretty impressive, Ray!" I rolled my eyes.

"_Please._ In a year or so, I'll be broke as shit so if I don't get something started up, I'll be fucked in the long run," I noticed the way Sato's eyes wavered away from me and how he seemed to shrink away each time I swore. I found it rather cute, and reminded myself to refrain from swearing around him. The only reason I did so was to intimidate people and release some anger. I wasn't the type who needed to let out a curse several times a day to get by. "You've obviously been here longer than me, so any places that are pretty busy here that attract a lot of customers?"

"Uhh... " He wrinkled his nose. "S-store space... I don't think I could help you much on that one. I mean, I don't get out that much, and uh... but what kind of business are you planning to run?"

At the inquiry, I could feel the blood pooling thickly behind my cheeks. "Food."

"Like a restaurant?" I shook my head. To be honest, admitting my sweets addiction was like admitting my guilty pleasure. Wait, that shouldn't be a simile: Sweets _were _my guilty pleasure, period! It was one thing to just like eating them, but to be passionate enough to create a business about it... some people might think it's nothing to be embarrassed about, but it wasn't something I wanted everyone knowing about.

"No, um," I swallowed my saliva, biting my lip. "More like... _sweets..."_

"Sheets?" he raised a mocking brow. I glared at him, his eyes narrowed in a dangerous, almost naughty smirk.

"Dude," I growled, "_sweets."_

"I think I heard Swiss cheese?" I glowered harder.

"Watanabe, do you want to die?" He burst out laughing, the sound soothing the irritation inside of me. The resonance was calming; so naturally pure and nostalgic—

_... Nostalgic? _

"Hahaha, okay, okay! I get it," he chirped, a silly grin still plastered on his face, "but you looked so cute, so I couldn't help myself!"

I blinked, indifferent feelings flooding my being. I watched as the grin on his face disappeared at the sight of my shock. It was replaced momentarily with a frown, but it lifted to a sheepish smile.

"I-I guess I just wasn't used to seeing you so uhh, uncollected... You're always so in control of everything you say and I just... It was..." His eyes avoided me, giving me the opportunity to analyze him boldly without having to worry about awkward eye contact. He was clutching his hands together; fingers laced as sweat began to form on his forehead.

It made me smug, and even a bit flattered to know that I could have that affect on him. I would be lying if I didn't notice his open attraction to me; in his eyes, I was a male and his sexual preference wasn't my business. Sato was truly genuine and innocent, from what I could deduct. His open body language and inability to feel heavy suspicion was enough to attract me towards him, as he did many others. His hair was bleached (adding onto his slightly mischievous demeanor) and his eyes were dark brown: an appearance you could see merely walking down any street in Japan; a name made of two of Japan's most commonly used surnames - whichever way you looked at it, Sato was just an average guy.

"Relax, dude," I watched as his cheeks tinted pink. I shifted myself slightly away from him. "You always act like I'm gonna shove my fist down your throat, and for fuck's sake, don't call me cute. That's..."

He kept averting his eyes until finally, Mr. Kobayashi made his way into the classroom, announcing the page for us to turn to. I tried to pay him no attention, but his gaze refused to leave me so finally I peaked up out of curiosity.

His instantaneous reaction was to break out into a brilliant grin.

I couldn't help but let out a shy smile myself.

**-X-**

I took my usual place underneath a tree in the outside field, getting ready to make use of my lunch break for studying again. I was so behind, it was painful to even find funny, but I could tell that I was making good progress in terms of apprehension and speed. It was just a shame that I still had to catch up while the other students were already—

"LIIIIIIGHT!" My brown eyes blinked at the high-pitched voice, before the name registered in my head as well. When I found the source of the action, others were staring as well. My lips tingled with the sensation to smirk.

Light was standing next to T-Rex, who was still dressed casually in a white shirt and blue jeans. However, T-Rex seemed to be... standing taller than usual. I could hardly deem it 'straight', but I could certainly see that he was probably a few inches taller than Light if he were to stand at his full height instead of a hunch. My hand felt around for my apple, and I took a big juicy bite.

The new face belonged to a short girl, reaching just about Light's eyes or so. She was cute and rather hyperactive with her voice volume and gestures; but her use of crucifixes, lace, and revealing black attire only contradicted the primary opinion of age I had. She had blonde hair past her shoulder, with bangs framing her face, as well as two pigtails at the top of her head.

I was alarmed to find T-Rex's eyes fixated diligently on me, and I could only suspect that he had taken the opportunity to look at me as I admired the blonde's appearance. We held each other's eyes in a brief stare down before I finally presented a lopsided leer and finished my apple. Glancing at my watch, I still had a solid fifty minutes to kill. Not feeling like getting up, – with my textbooks open on my lap and whatnot – I shot the apple core, launching it straight at the trashcan, and giving T-Rex a glance when it successfully landed in.

His facial features didn't change whatsoever, so I took it that he wasn't very impressed, though his hand slowly left his pockets and made his way to his mouth. I looked away, wondering if he was biting his nails or something, but I figured I should just ignore him. Sure, he seemed rather adorable and peculiar, but from the looks of it, he was a friend of Light's...

Which, contrarily, I was not and did not seek to be.

"Geeez~" came the high-pitched voice again, just loud enough for me to catch faintly. "Ryuuga-kun, why aren't you talking to me at all? Is Misa Misa boring you?"

I didn't look up, my fingers searching briefly for my ear buds so I could turn on a song I liked. If I didn't look up, and if my ears were plugged, I wouldn't have to deal with the distraction of eavesdropping being an option.

Before I could plug in my ear buds, I was forced to abandon them abruptly to catch a Frisbee aimed directly at my face. The group of girls and guys shouted an apology as one of them raised a hand for me to pass back to them. With the swift forehand flick of my wrist, I sent it flying back, smiling at them politely. Thank gosh I had learned how to throw a disk before.

The same incident repeated itself a few seconds later, and a brunette girl dashed over to fetch the Frisbee, having tried her best to chase it and prevent another encounter with me. I caught it firmly in my hand again, giving her a smirk.

"Oh, um... S-sorry about that again!" she apologized, grinning nervously. "I-I'll try harder to catch it next time so we don't bother your reviewing..."

"No problem," I shrugged, handing her the frisbee, "I've got pretty decent reflexes anyway, so don't worry about it hitting me. Should I... move? You guys can use this wide space instead, since your circle looks a bit small."

"Oh, geez! That'd be so rude of us! Stay here, by all means! We should be the ones moving, because s-studying is so much more important than uh... our Frisbee, by all means..." With each statement, her cheeks rose in rosiness. She had hands behind her back, and I assumed that she was fidgeting by the way the disk rotated and moved behind her. Her feet and legs were crossed as she tapped her toe onto the ground behind her several times, adorably anxious.

I laughed, genuinely amused and even a bit flattered. "Don't worry about it," I answered, closing my book and smoothly placing it back into my bag.

"O-oh, geez! I-It's really alright, you don't have to—" I packed everything up and stood up, smiling as she continued to try to dissuade me. Her voice became lost in her voice when I hiked my bag onto my shoulder, smiling at her.

"Hey, Naomi-chan! Quit flirting and pass the Frisbee!" called one of the girls in her Frisbee circle. The girl, whom I guessed to be Naomi, flushed and turned around to haughtily pass the Frisbee back with a powerful swing.

"Nice pass," I complimented, and she blushed back at me again. "Don't feel guilty about this at all, I was thinking about heading back inside anyway."

"Oh, um... yeah. Thanks so much. Sorry again," she stammered. I nodded to her and told her once again not to worry about it, and began to walk away, hoping she wasn't too flustered. I hadn't even flirted with her, other than a simple 'nice pass' at the very end, which didn't even count as flirting.

I was unluckily walking in the direction of Light and his trio, since they apparently _still _hadn't moved. The blonde was still hyperactive, leaping up and down, trying to plant a kiss on Light and pouting cutely when he refused. I blinked my eyes in a different direction as I closed the distance between us, eager to pass by them.

"SHIT! HEADS UP!" _Faint whizzing. Five o'clock. _My body whipped into reflex as my arm darted out to catch the soaring disk, just inches away from my head. Naomi's jaw was dropped as the students or her circle were laughing or putting their hands over their mouth in a gasp. I had to admit, I had even barely caught it with my acute awareness.

"Ha! I think our Frisbee really likes you! Sorry about that, dude! We honestly don't aim it at you!" A guy shouted out, putting his hands up in 'pass' motion. I chuckled, shooting it rippling back and ducking my head in a brief nod of acknowledgement when they thanked me once again.

Irritation rose inside of my as I had to continue walking towards Light despite causing a minor scene. Several students were already staring at me and whispering about things I couldn't catch, and it was impossible for me to not know of Light's very own eyes on me. T-Rex and the blonde girl were also staring at me, but the blonde looked more confused than anything.

"Sveinson-san." My paces slowed down as I reluctantly looked up in feigned alarm at Light's voice, despite his voice truly causing me surprise. I forced a faint smile at him, coming to a full stop some feet in front of him. "Good afternoon."

"Ah, Yagami-kun," I grinned, fixing my bag's strap higher onto my shoulder. I chose my words carefully. "I'm surprised."

I watched as his 'big brother' mode was switched on. Weird, since his sister wasn't here, but I figured he was just as friendly in front of his friends. "I could say the same. I didn't expect you to be here, either..."

Our eyes held each other fearlessly, as I often did to those I found amusing. However, there was a very strange vibe I got from Light. He wasn't just an ordinary, smart University student. There was something very eerie about him, whether it was the act he put up, or...

_A red apple had been mysteriously floating in Light Yagami's room._

"I meant I was surprised you would acknowledge me," I answered cheerfully, carefully masking the harshness of my words. His smile faltered the slightest, probably due to confusion. He seemed to be waiting for me to continue, but I didn't.

"Surprised that I would acknowledge you?" There was an unmistakable edge to his voice, and I could feel the challenge seeping through the thin layers. Instantly, his smile returned as he pulled away from both T-Rex and Blonde. "If you two will excuse me..."

He stepped forward and I stepped backwards to accommodate room for him, not wanting to be so close to him. He seemed to notice my disdain and frowned, no longer eliminating the space. His voice was lowered and hushed, obviously not wanting either of his friends to hear. "I suppose the way I behaved the other night was rather rude, and I _do _apologize sincerely. You must have thought I wanted you to leave, but I assure you it wasn't the case."

"I wasn't worried about something so trivial, Yagami-san, don't worry yourself," I smirked in triumph when his smile left his face, but annoyance still failed to display on his face. Light wasn't an easy victim to have a victory over. "You simply didn't strike me as the type to greet me at school, after that night. I would've thought you wanted as little to do with me as possible, but you were polite enough to recognize me. Surely, the top freshman at To-oh has much better things to be doing with his time than saying hello to his fellow schoolmates."

I was fully aware of how I was treating Light. Yet, it wasn't like I couldn't afford to be on bad terms with him. The sooner he started ignoring me and pretending I didn't exist, the better. I didn't know much about him, but enough to conclude that if he continued to randomly greet me, students would gossip, for whatever unnecessary reason it was to fuel such action in the first place.

Popularity wasn't what I was after – it ruined the whole idea of peace and quiet to me. Whether or not Light was a genuinely beautiful person inside and out, I couldn't deal with his fame and status within the school. But seeing as he didn't seem all that innocent and pure, I had no problem with telling him straight out that I didn't want anything to do with him.

"Are you angry with me, Sveinson-san? I can't help but notice that you seem strange today, as if..." his orbs of auburn were slightly lidded through his long lashes, "you're trying to provoke me."

I squinted my eyes at him, the smile never leaving my face. He let out a small chuckle himself, leaning back to grin. "I must be imagining it. Sorry, Sveinson-san. It's just that you're not at all what I first expected."

"I could say the same about you, Yagami-san," I smiled just as brightly, matching his contrived ease. Glancing over his shoulder, I caught the bewildered, curious expression of the girl. T-Rex, on the other hand, was still fiddling with a finger in his mouth as he stared at me. "I believe I'm holding you up from your friends –"

"Why don't you introduce us, Light?" the girl chirped, prancing up beside him and hooking arms with him. "Eheh, can you guess who I am?"

I stepped back further and tilted my head, humming to myself. Snapping my finger, I smirked. "Such a cute girl could be none other than the girlfriend of the amazing Yagami Light!"

She squealed, thoroughly satisfied with my answer. "Did you hear that, Light? He knew I was your girlfriend right away! Ne, ne, don't we look good together?"

I smirked. She didn't strike me as Light's type of girl, but I wasn't about to claim that I knew him. "Yagami, you got yourself a real cute catch. I'd be lying to say I wasn't impressed..."

She giggled contagiously. "I'm Amane Misa, or Misa Misa! Have you heard of me?"

"I'm Sveinson Rayne, but just call me Ray. I transferred to Japan from America just this month. I... don't really know that many people, sorry," I answered. Misa gasped, but I could have sworn that she had... frowned when I told her my name.

"From America? That's so cool! Don't you think so, Ryuuga-kun?" My attention darted over the T-Rex, his expression as blank as always.

"Yes," he spoke, voice as monotonous and 'lively' as his appearance, "that _is_ very interesting."

Ryuuga. That was his name? It was bizarrely unfitting. It was such a commonly used, normal Japanese name. They say that names correspond to a person very closely, but no matter how I looked at it, he didn't come off as a 'Ryuuga'.

I peeked at my watch. "I've only got half an hour left of my lunch break. I should get –"

"Come to think of it, we first saw each other a few weeks ago during this time, too," I couldn't hold back a frown. I was annoyed, and I didn't even care about letting him off easy anymore. What was Light up to? I was giving him an invitation to get rid of me, and he just – "Could it be possible that we have the same lunch break?"

"... I suppose so."

"That's convenient, isn't it?" Light beamed, eyes closed into half-moons. "I can help you study for Midterms during Lunch then, while we grab a bite to eat."

_What?_

"That's chivalrous of you, Yagami-san, but I wouldn't want to take time away from you and your girlfriend—"

"Misa isn't a student here," he replied before Misa could get a word out. She looked as baffled as I was. This was too strange; I was almost at a loss for words. He didn't look even slightly concern about how Misa felt, despite her being his girlfriend.

"But she still visits you like this, doesn't she? It's preposterous to think that you'd rather be tutoring someone like me instead of hanging out with your cutie," I flashed Misa a wink, which brightened her frown into a blush. I decided to milk the lover card. "Don't get me wrong; I would really appreciate the help, but you should dedicate your time to your girlfriend instead. I'll just ask another friend of mine to tutor me, it's no big deal."

"I can tutor you." I blinked, the voice not yet familiar in my memory banks. Light and Misa both looked at Ryuuga, stepping up beside Light. I quickly analyzed the scenario and erased the alarm from my face.

"Ryuuga-san, was it? Like I said, I can just find another friend to tutor me," I declared, losing patience with the lack of things going my way. "Thanks for your offer, though."

"I don't have a girlfriend," he pressed, dark eyes menacing and unreadable, "and I share the rank of top freshman with Light."

I hid my surprise. If he was telling the truth, it was impressive. For two men to look so drastically diverse from one another, who would think that they both had the mental capability to top their entire grade?

That wasn't quite the problem. As much as I really wouldn't mind the help, Ryuuga was also at the top of his grade, albeit probably not as popular as Light, it was impossible for people to not notice him.

"Neither do I have any friends at this school." I looked at him; had he read my mind? Obviously not, but he just... "I don't see any reason for you reject my offer, seeing as it provides me no trouble, Sveinson-san," Ryuuga insisted, derailing my train of thought. Nonetheless, he was friends with Light, so that went against my attempts at -

Light didn't look happy. From the way his eyebrows were drawn together, furrowed, you could tell he was deep in thought. His jaw was tight, lips pursed, and as my eyes travelled down, I could see that his hands were moving in a peculiar pattern, as if fidgeting to refrain from clenching into fists. His hands suddenly froze and relaxed, and when I met his auburn eyes, he was already staring at me. He must have seen me paying attention to how frigid he looked.

There was something very peculiar going on.

"I believe just once or twice wouldn't hurt," I answered shyly, making eye contact with Ryuuga. I preferred my title of T-Rex over Ryuuga. Strangely, I felt that it fit better, not that he resembled the creature's ferocity whatsoever. Light looked like he wanted to say something, but whether or not he would have opened his mouth, it wouldn't have stopped me from cutting him off.

"Well, if I need you, I won't hesitate to come find you. I'll be holding you to your word... Ryuuga-san," I grinned good-naturedly, hoping to finally end the conversation. "I'll see you guys around."

I twisted around and made my way down the wall, my strides long and just slightly hurried as to create my distance between us. My brain was having a workout, the gears spinning. Unplugged chords were now linking and creating sparks, components whirring into life.

I didn't rely on my sixth scent very often, seeing as majority of the time, it turned out to be wrong or flawed. Logic was what fueled my conclusions and connected the dots for me. I was no psychic, but there weren't many times in my life I felt that the way I did just then, where my heart and senses were firing queer signals at me that I couldn't quite read.

Something was very, _very _wrong.

If I didn't figure it out in time, would I soon be too ensnared to escape?

But under what concrete, definite evidence was I to feel this way?

**-X-**

Several days ago, L could remember the dramatic incident of a heart attack occurring outside the building premises. He had been devouring a scrumptious piece of chocolate mouse at the time, eyes watching without much emotion as the man began to massage his chest, complaining of discomfort. His shortness of breath came next, and it was soon clear to the genius that the man was having going in Cardiac Arrest. Mildly intrigued, due to the link between heart attacks and Kira, he continued watching, knowing he was unable to do—

His chewing had slowed down considerably, a spoon dangling from his mouth as his onyx orbs followed the figure descending down the apartment wall. Watari watched silently behind him as the girl leapt down from an impressive height, landing on her bare feet, already getting the AED ready for use. In seconds, it was on the man, and she had saved his life.

The investigator had taken careful note of the girl going back into the apartment through the entrance, taking the elevator up and going back into her room. The harness and cords from outside were slowly gathered and hit against the wall every so often as she reeled it upwards. L had boldly peeked out of his balcony window to catch sight of her long black hair looking over the edge and she pulled the ropes back in.

Onto the very same floor, into same room, L watched on the cameras as the boy, _Rayne_, ventured into his abode. It was only his luck that he later chose to step out onto his balcony and look down at L's very own room, confirming L's suspicions of him sharing the same room as the girl who had played Hero.

She could simply be his girlfriend: a close friend, a young aunt, an old niece, a cousin, and a relative of some sort. The list could go on.

However, L had watched her out of curiosity, which was (for the most part) the reasoning behind him doing anything: curiosity or interest.

That girl never once showed up ever again. A brown haired boy had left for school the next morning when the detective got up to attend To-Oh, and it was then that L noticed something.

"Hot chocolate," he said bluntly. Watari complied duteously.

Just to be sure, and since the predicament was starting to mess with the detective, L looked up the past surveillance cameras and fast forwarded the recordings, all the while looking for a head of black hair.

A cup of steaming hot chocolate was placed on L's table as his orbs reflected the computer screen.

L went through the recordings again.

By the end of his second scan, his cup was emptied of chocolaty goodness. Alas, L's thirst and craving remained unfulfilled.

Why was it that he had absolutely no footage of that girl ever entering the room other than that day, nevertheless leaving?

**End Chapter.**

**-X- **_LONG END NOTES THAT HAVE MEANING, GRAHH_** -X- **

(1) Rayne's birthday is based off of the Death note Series' timezone, so no: she's not actually 22, but since Light was born in 1989, she's a few months older, thus making her a 1988 baby. Let's not get too deep into this, kapeesh?

**THIS WAS FRIKIN 8000+ WORDS. **I was expecting it to be 6000 MAX. Haha, more for you guys, I guess.

I refrain from going into detail about **Light**'s thoughts, because for the most part, I find Light much more 'human' and sociable enough to have flaws in his mask, etc, for Rayne to figure out.

However, with **L**, I'm torn as to how I should portray/DEAL with him. Their creators have done a very good job of making such definable characters, I'd hate to ruin them and push them into OOC territory like nearly every DN story I've ever read. However, since L is such an enigma, much more so than Light, it's harder for me to write for him, thus I think I might go into third person, 'L POV' more often than I would like. I feel that if I don't have evidence and some reasoning to back up WHY L acts a certain way, you guys won't be able to identify with why he acts so uncharacteristically. It's not an excuse to make him OOC, but just... almost a way for ME to get into his head, you know? Plus, like I said in the starting memo, I think it gives more insight on the story, since there's just sooo much Rayne doesn't know. I hope this doesn't sound like I'm making excuses. I think I am. OHGOSH )':

But in all seriousness, I am loving you guys. Seriously? 27 reviews last chapter? You guys are like.. WOW. WTF. I WISH I COULD DUMP PILES AND PILES OF NAKED BISHIES ON YOU SINCE YOU GUYS ROCK SO MUCH! I'm really happy that you guys like the story enough to give me a review when it's so simple to just favorite/alert and move on )':

**Random hint: Don't ignore Sato. **LOLOL, I BET YOU GUYS HAVE )': I try to incorporate into my writing: "HE'S IMPORTANT! PAY ATTENTION TO HOW HE ACTS! GRAGRGHRHGHRGH!" but it's still all rather messed up because of the kind of person he is. Depending on how I'm going to end this story, he's not a side character I'm just gonna throw away. Just thought I'd put that out there. :D

Like always, reviewing would be great. If possible, not just a 'Please update soon!' but maybe tell me what you think I'm doing right, and what you think I'm doing wrong? What do you like about this story, and what do you think I could work on? Telling me what you think just helps me improves, thus providing better reads for you (;

**Oh, and for the record: L's in the lead, but Both & Light aren't far behind.  
It seems that "BOTH... If not, then _" is usually the case. LOL. You greedy fangirls (: **


	5. Hindsight :: Five ::

**Authoress: **FIRST, SECOND AND THIRD CHAPTERS HAVE BEEN REVAMPED. There are some changes in the plot, so I would reread some of it, if not skim through, because I have made our main female a little less 'badass'. Sorry folks, but I really don't think someone who's assassinated dozens of people would be as sane as I'm writing her. My mistake. HOPEFULLY THIS FIXES THINGS... A BIT.

**Ryuk: **It doesn't fix anything, actually. In fact, all it does it inconvenience and confuse peop- APPLE? 8D

**Authoress: **Phew! Okay, he's distracted. Enjoy the chapter! ^o^ Hope you guys are having a good holiday (:

**-X-**

**Chapter Five: Hindsight**

**-X-**

When the oven timer sounded, I had nearly fallen asleep. I made somewhat of a snorting noise and coughed, my lungs and throat feeling oddly clotted and heavy. My nostrils instantly identified the sweet, chocolate scent wafting from the kitchen, tempting and seducing my senses. A textbook fell as I raised my head, and I let out a ferocious yawn. The cakes could stay in there a while. I was in no rush.

A news reporter spoke monotonously on the television screen, but I had no recollection of ever turning the device on. I looked down at my coffee table, scattered with textbooks and worksheets. A remote sat directly underneath where my face had been sleeping, and as I grazed a few fingers on my cheek, I knew there had been an imprint. Sighing, I forced myself up and sauntered to my cooking area.

A smile tugged carelessly at my lips when I opened the oven. I swiped an oven-mitt over my hand and eased the tray of cakes out, and then propped the oven door up until a three-inch gap remained. It was always good to let the heat breath out instead of cooping it in. Besides, it would've been a waste of heat, and I loved it when my surroundings smelled of baking, anyway.

The cakes sat obediently over the metal rack, and I decided to let them naturally cool instead of speeding up the process with a fan or shoving them in the fridge. I poured myself a glass of milk and trudged back to my coffee table, sitting cross-legged in front of my books and television screen.

_"Another victim of Kira was found outside Izumiya Park, Hokkaido at 2 a.m. this morning. Police say that the victim had a history of criminal activity dating from..."_

I turned the TV off and took a long, slow sip of my milk.

Then I strolled back over to my kitchen to fan the cakes, eager to devour them for the satiation of my bad mood.

**-X-**

"Morning," Sato croaked, collapsing into the seat next to mine. I scooted over to give him some room, not that he would notice in his state of semi-consciousness.

"Rough night?" I quipped, and he grunted. Whatever that meant.

"You... look like you had all twelve hours of sleep." I looked over to see him giving me the evil eye. "Or you're a morning person. Or you're just good-looking all the time. Whatever it is, it's _not fair."_

I laughed, slapping him hard on the back. "Come on, dude. Get yourself together. It's almost midterms."

"Did you just say—" I shuffled further when he threw his arms up in melodrama. "Midterms is the dark age where university and college students everywhere weep at ungodly hours of the night and fall into abyssal depressions that take our entire academic existence to climb out of..." He sucked in a breath being fueled by the giggles and chuckles around the room. "And you're telling me to get myself together?"

"...Yes?" I tried.

"Well you're right," he confessed, landing in his seat with a thud, "I _should _get myself together. But I'm not going to. Because I can't."

"Is it..." I muttered, giving my head a scratch, "really that important?"

Sato didn't reply, so I turned to see if what I said might've offended him. He was gazing at me with fond eyes, half lidded and eyebrows drawn up in humiliation.

"No," he breathed, looking away abruptly and shuffling his seat away from me. The teacher walked into the room and told us to take our books out.

"No... It's not really that important," he said again, more to himself. I wasn't sure if I was supposed to hear.

But I didn't think he was talking about midterms.

**-X-**

Class ended as it always did, an hour and a half later. As students piled out of the room, I stopped Sato and told him to give me a second. I pulled a white box out of my bag and handed it to him. His eyes twinkled, his bad mood being swiped away by the sweet scent.

"That's not what I think it is."

"It is," I countered, reaching out further so that he'd take it. "Really, go on. Take it."

"Wha—I thought you were joking when you—... Oh wow, thanks," He gingerly held the box with both hands, one positioned securely under it, "I didn't... uhh... It's still not Christmas yet, so I didn't—"

"It's not a Christmas gift," I answered dryly. He blinked. "It's a thank you gift. You've been really kind to me since I transferred here, and I thought I should formally thank you."

Sato blinked several times, as if his eyes lidding and opening would answer me with words. He cleared his throat, and a blush began to crawl onto his face. "All I did was... and talk to you in class, and... There's really no need to thank me, you know? I shouldn't accept this."

I gave him a hard look, which must have been pretty effective because he suddenly hugged the box closer, like it was a shield from me and I wouldn't risk punching him if it meant sending the cakes flying. "Don't play modest with me. If you won't accept it as a thank you, then accept it as an obligation as my friend to taste test my work."

He opened his mouth, eyes still uncertain and not convinced. I cut him off. "Don't be difficult."

He closed his mouth and sighed, lips moving upward to form a smile.

"Aren't you scared I'll take this the wrong way?"

I thought about it carefully, and then crossed my arms. "I just _told _you the way I want you to take it."

"Yeah, but..." He bit his bottom lip childishly, "Okay, okay. Yeah, you're right, I won't get any weird ideas."

I glanced briefly at the ground, and then back up at him as I began to walk away backwards. "I'll see you in Biology. They need to all be eaten by then, because I really need some opinions by today!"

Sato beamed, no more awkwardness as he also shuffled backwards. "Roger that! How many did you make?"

"Ten!"

"Te—" He look incredulous as he halted. "We have _midterms! _I don't have time to work out right now! I'm going to get _fat!"_

I shrugged like it wasn't my problem. "Sharing is caring. I didn't say that _you _had to eat them all!"

With one last exchanged smile, we turned around to face opposite directions. I saw him mutter something under his breath as he turned, but I couldn't hear what he said.

_"Getting fat it is, then."_

So I just read his lips.

**-X-**

_One more week... _I placed a book back into the shelf and pulled out the one next to it.

_One more week and then I'll probably be at an average level... _My seat creaked as I eased into it, suddenly reminding me of my weight. I had done a lot of sitting around and sleeping the past month. Although Sato had enlightened me on the stress of that midterms has on 'usual' students, I wasn't so much pressure to do well than I was to fit in. I sure didn't want to be at the bottom of the list, neatly printed and completely identifiable to the rest of the students. If my name gets hidden somewhere in the middle, it should be okay. Besides, actually _learning _meant more to me than grades. I had no one to impress, really. No expectations to meet. No parents, no close relatives... It was just me.

_-x_

_My eyelids are squeezed so tightly shut; my eyes begin to ache with a sharp numbness. Even when I crack them open, all I see is white - oceans of white, just drowning my vision. I must be blind._

_"What are you doing here?" A child? A boy? He's dressed warmly, wrapped in scarves and a thick coat. He's shouting to someone._

_Stop. Stop shouting. Please, stop._

_"Hurry, Nana!"_ _Please stop. Stop. Stop. Annoying. Pain. _Pain. _"I think she's—"_

_"Oh my goodness!" Shuffling sounds. My throat vibrates. Did I just say something? I can't tell anymore. Something is touching me. Stop, I want to say. Stop talking. It's like needles piercing into my brain every time you- "Stephen, call your Mother. Run to your Mother. Go _now, _Stephen!"_

_I'm rolling, tumbling, falling. I can faintly feel my hair sticking damply to my face, but it seems too far away for me to be sure. "Can you hear me?" Yes. "If you can hear me, stay awake. Stay awake, okay?" No. "Can you do that for me?" No. "Come on, child. Stay awake." No._

_I think quietly to myself, that if she had any idea how hard it was to stay awake, she wouldn't be asking me to._

_And as soon as the thought finishes, the pain releases me and I'm engulfed in black._

_-x_

"You come to the library often." I directed my gaze to Light, who had just spoken. Frustration flickered on within me. I had chosen to come to the library because I had noticed he was usually outside. I had hidden myself in the back corner of the studying section, a place where students liked to inhabit during their revision time, but either everyone was deciding to take a break, they had chosen not to study at the library, or they had plain given up. For him to come across me while I'm completely alone like this... It was infuriating.

"I guess I do." He took a seat across from me, setting his books down. I glanced around. T-Rex wasn't nearby, which I found odd.

"Are you looking at Ryuuga?" he posed, eyes gazing at me curiously. There was something else his eyes were trying to tell me. Or rather, trying to mask. And then, very abruptly, a strange thought occurred to me.

Had Light Yagami been _trying _to find me?

I shook my head, not caring how obvious it was that I was lying. "Are you here to study as well?"

"You can say that," he evaded.

"From the way you were asking me test questions that day and answering them without looking into the answer key, I doubt you're here to study, Top Freshman."

His eyes met mine again. "If you think that, then why do you bother asking?"

"To see how you'll answer." He looked away, and distracted himself with the flap of his bag. He understood exactly what I was implying.

_'To see if you'll lie.'_

"On the contrary," he continued, "most of what I went through that day was borderline high school material. I can't exactly say it was a challenge."

"Can I ask a straight-forward question?" I blurt as soon as he's done.

He chose not to retort cleverly, and instead simply answered with, "Of course."

"Why have you taken an interest in me, Yagami-san?"

He looked at me differently then, like how someone would look at a traitor. "An interest?"

"Yes, an interest, because surely you are not attracted to my personality in any way, we have little to nothing in common, and you have more reason to dislike me and avoid me than to openly greet me. Yet, here you are, sitting across from me with your books open and ready to have a little study-date together like we're old buddies. I can tell that you don't like me, Yagami-san, so I shall call it an interest. An interest I am not a fan of, because it annoys me, Yagami-san. _You _are annoying me."

If anyone had heard me say those words to _the _Light Yagami, Top Freshman and Handsome Extraordinaire, I would probably have the rest of my University life to suffer with the results. I was once again grateful for the lack of students in the library.

I had him nerved, I could tell, but there was something else in his dark expression that I didn't know how to place. But just as life would have it, I was no longer dealing with 'small fry'. Light Yagami was going to be a fierce opponent if we ever chose to battle, because he fired back at me without missing a beat.

"Can I also ask you a straight-forward question?"

I let out an exasperated grunt and chose not to retort with 'After you answer mine'. Instead, I replied, "I'm all ears."

"What is your name?" The simplicity of the questions almost dismissed my defenses.

And all of the sudden, I was regretting that we were completely alone.

"Is that a trick question, Yagami?" I answered, my tone even. I reassured myself that there was absolutely no logical way he could have ever found out. "My name is Sveinson Rayne. Rayne Sveinson."

"No, it's not," he denied.

I rolled my eyes, brain hoping desperately that he couldn't hear how fast and hard my heart was thumping inside my chest. At that point, it was near impossible to hide my full annoyance with him. "Oh, _really? _Then what do you think my name is, Top Freshie?"

"I don't know. That's why I'm asking you." Light laced his fingers together and tilted his head almost adorably, teasing with his eyes. "Because as far as I'm concerned, you don't have a name, _Rayne Sveinson-san."_

I wished I had missed it.

I couldn't miss how absolutely sure Yagami Light was as he spoke those words, because his goal wasn't at all to find out what my answer was.

He just wanted to see how I reacted. He wanted to see _how I would lie._

I was a fucking toy to him.

"You're not welcome here." It sounded so pathetic coming through my lips, but I couldn't help it. I was angry and confused. How had he known, and in so little time? It didn't matter that I had flirted a bit with his sister, or that I might have treated him with less courtesy than most.

He had no fucking right to look into _my damn business._

"This is a school library," he said, but his tone had changed. He sounded alarmed, like he wasn't expecting this kind of response. But I didn't care. I was too busy _not _caring about how he fucking felt anymore.

_"Get out,"_ I managed to grit out without ripping a body part off. He narrowed his eyes.

"Sveinson-"

"If you won't go, then I will," My hands were fumbling as they shoved books into my bag, my brain was relatively calm in comparison to how utterly _terrible _my emotions were holding up. It still had the composure to think of multiple ways I could dismember Light right then and there, but I instantly pushed those thoughts away. Whether or not he was dead, it didn't change that he was a _fucking horrible person._

"Sveinson!" The librarian shushed him as I bolted out the door. My legs were burning because I was straining to walk at a speed I would usually be running at, but as angry as I was, I wasn't about to be detained and in trouble because I couldn't obey elementary rules.

I chose to go out through the 'Maze', which was a nickname the school had given to a rather dark section of the school that held only staircases. They wound downwards, with hallways and corridors that branched off. Most of the rooms were for storage so barely any students would go down there when the option of getting lost was always so likely. I began descending down the stairs, trying to let Light off my tail. I didn't want anyone seeing him chasing me, once again for the inconvenience of rumors and popularity.

And then my brain proposed that I _shouldn't _have gone through the Maze, because then Light wouldn't have chased me in the halls for the dignity his own reputation.

Well, fuck.

Luckily, staircases had always been my area of expertise, so perhaps a natural instinct had driven me there. I hurtled down the floors, launching myself over and under the railing to create even more distance, basically what I had done within the fire escape of my own apartment, except now I was racing down, which didn't take nearly as much stamina.

I was approaching the bottom before I realized that I didn't know my way around the Maze, which was why I hadn't turned into one of the corridors. All I had done was race down, and then my heart fell because I was face to face with the very last floor, a small little dark box at the very bottom of the school with no exit unless a bulldozer came to impale a wall into the building. But as I began to slow my breathing, I listened carefully, and then went up a few steps to double check. There were no footsteps.

He wasn't chasing me.

I let out a shaky breath of relief, sinking to my knees and positioning myself comfortably on the stairs.

I let only one tear fall, and then I quickly used my sleeve to soak up the rest. I used my other hand to dig clumsily into my bag, pulled out my metal water bottle, and leaned back to hold it against my eyelids so that they wouldn't swell.

**-X-**

"Your new name is G-O-P. God of Pastries. You are the GOD of PASTRIES."

"I've never made pastries," I said bluntly. "Mostly cake and chocolate."

"G-O-C doesn't roll off the tongue as well as G-O-P does," Sato argued.

"I think G-O-C sounds better."

"You _think _it does, but it doesn't." I shot him a look. He smiled. "Either way, they were delectable~ Did you name them?"

"No, not yet. Which one did you like best?"

"The Mango. Oh, but the Lemon also had be begging for more~" I couldn't help but crack a smile at his antics. Just as I looked up, I caught that fond look in his eyes again. He instantly laughed to cover it up.

"You seemed down," he offered. "Is everything alright?"

I snapped, "I'm _fine."_

He nodded glumly and slipped me an apologetic smile. I felt guilty, almost, that I might have been a bit too harsh. Gosh, it was like my emotions were never going to be under my control again after slipping my grasp.

"I know it's not my business," he muttered quietly, not meeting my eyes. His bleached blonde hair bristled as he scratched it. "Sorry for asking. I'm just worried. You looked kinda stiff when you walked into class, and you seemed kinda monotonous in your answers so... yeah, wow, I'm just making stupid excuses now. I'm sorry... again."

"You're right. It isn't any of your business." He winced, and sunk his head lower into his folded arms, looking down. I leaned closer so that I could say the next words gently. "But if you don't worry about me, no one else will."

"That's not true-" He chose to glance up and as he turned his head, his nose brushed against mine and I leaned back as he jolted backwards. He cleared his throat forcefully, and quickly glanced around to see if anyone had seen. "... Sorry."

I let out a silly laugh. "I was just kidding. Don't worry about me. I'm fine."

At the sound of my genuine laughter, he seemed to ease on his tensions. "Just checking."

"No need to check," I quipped.

"Just in case."

"Unnecessary."

A pause. "Can you teach me how to make Cake?"

"If you help me find a store."

He let out a low whistle. "Anything for a beautiful maiden such as yourself~"

I looked at him. He laughed nervously and fell off his chair just as Mr. Matsumoto entered the room. I didn't help him up.

**-X-**

**End Chapter.**

**-X-**

(1) – I don't know if you guys know this, but holding cold things like chilled metal or ice against your eye lids will stop the swelling from when you cry (: So no more waking up in the morning with swollen eyelids! 8D

Because this story has stayed been more loyal to First Person than others, you as the readers are still in the dark about a lot of things, as well as the thoughts of other characters~ Hurrhurrhurr, I don't know if you have any idea on how much you guys are missing out. You guys are missing out on a lot. LOL. I will try my best to keep you guys enlightened! 8DDD

There was quite a lot of Sato in this chapter, and it was relatively short. WELL, YOU GUYS GOT A MONSTER LAST CHAPTER. SO IT'S BALANCED (:

The next chapter will (should) be of relative length for me, so 4000-7000 words depending on how it goes! I've been getting back into art, haha, and I'm hoping to fill my deviantart page with as many art pieces as I have STORIES, AT LEAST, HAHA. I HAVEN'T BEEN ABLE TO GET ANYTHING DECENT UP, BECAUSE MY BREAK HAS BEEN SO MUCH MORE HECTIC THAN I THOUGHT IT WOULD BE QQ

Reviewing is magnificent as always, and sorry for the lack of L in this chapter. YOU SEE A WHOLE FRIKIN LOT OF HIM LATER SO NO COMPLAINING, LOL.

**A POLL FOR THIS STORY IF NOW UP ON MY PROFILE!  
**YOU CAN CHOOSE MORE THAN ONE, ONLY because this poll will influence my decision, not _decide it for me._ Sorry~ Haha, have fun, guys (:


	6. Saccharine :: Six ::

POLL IS DOWN! The obvious Winner is L Lawliet, haha, but fear not Light and Sato lovers: there will be plenty of fluff and service for you guys too, I assure you.

Because this was not updated in so long, perhaps it would be better for you to reread a few chapters? Whatever floats your boat, but recaps aren't my thing when the rest of the chapters are just a click away.

Action will be picking up reeeeal soon, so feel free to anticipate! :3

**-X-**

**Chapter Six: Saccharine**

**-X-**

"2 hours: an hour on booklet A without the use of a calculator, and an hour on Booklet B with a calculator," announced the teacher one more time at the front of the room. "Your time starts now."

The entire room filled with the sound of papers rustling as students flipped to the first page. I heard a few utensils drop, and embarrassing requests for the teacher to pick it up for them since they weren't allowed out of their desks. I wondered if it was always this troublesome in the beginning of a midterm.

As far as I was concerned, different schools and districts had their own ways of going about their midterms. Some would do it together in their own classroom, sometimes in another room entirely, and sometimes as a huge group of all students taking the same midterm. There I sat, doing my Calculus midterm, one of the few being ranked altogether. I tried to focus on the questions in front of me, weighing my options, and deciphering whether to work out the entire equation one more time to be sure. I snuck a glance at the papers around me. Some were surprisingly slow, others going through the test like a typhoon. I blushed, wondering why I was taking so long.

"Eyes on your own paper," a professor warned a student several seats in front of me. I trained my gaze back onto my own, wondering if cheating was a regular thing for students, especially at To-Oh where dropping grades could mean not coming back for the next year, or semester.

But it seemed that once I was done warming up, my brain as spinning away at the calculations must faster. I was gaining momentum. The answers were right there in front of me. Many answers were dangerously close, leading you to a wrong answer if you cut off a few decimals short. _Tricky, _I mused. I grumbled every time I got too paranoid and had to redo questions over, just to be sure. I grumbled even harder when I kept getting the same answer, but it wasn't one of the choices.

As I finished up the last few questions on Booklet A, I glanced up at the clock. I still had fifteen more minutes, which was decent, I supposed. I put my pencil down and began going through my answers one last time. My bottom felt particularly prickly on the wooden chairs like there were splinters, but I knew it was only my imagination. For a person who didn't like to sit in one place for very long, it was uncomfortable.

They announced a 5-minute warning, and then teachers came to collect the first booklet. Students whipped out their graphing calculators and another announcement signified the second portion of the test.

_... 75 B... 76 A... 77 A... 78 A... 79...A? _I blinked. That couldn't be right. I'd only ever taken a few tests before including the entrance exam, but wasn't their some unspoken rule about not having several consecutive answers the same? I made sure no teachers were around and snuck a sly glance to my neighbor, trying to peak if they had a small line on their scantron. They weren't at the question yet. I blew out a sigh and made a mental note not to do that anymore. I should be truthful during these tests. I should let this challenge me mentally, to see where I really am upon entering as a new student. I had no one to impress, no expectations to meet except for my own.

_79 A it is, _I concluded, moving on swiftly.

Sooner than I would have expected, I had gotten to the questions that required work to be shown and done. Those were significantly harder than I thought, which basically used all the time that I had been able to save in the multiple choice. I looked up at the clock when I had 3 questions left, and flushed pale. I only had 15 minutes left.

"5 more minutes," announced the teacher. I cursed. I was on the last question, and beginning to wonder if I might have to just guess the answer to this one because I didn't have the time...

_'Find a solution of the differentiation equation dy/dx = x sin(x^2); y(0) = -1' _I grinned, grateful that it was easy.

I finished my exam just as the announcer told us to drop our pens and close our books.

**-X-**

"That was brutal," Sato gave a stretch and a yawn. I followed his example and stretched my shoulders and legs from all that sitting and writing. "How'd you do?"

"Barely finished," I confessed. "I thought I was good at calculus too..."

"I bombed it," he admitted, giving a sigh.

"Did you get a small row of As between question 75 to 79?" I inquired. He blinked.

"Uh... no? Not that I even remember what questions 75 to 79 were...?"

"I..." I tried not to blush. "I was paranoid..."

"Nerd," he gave me a nudge, and I shot him a scoff.

"Watch as I place in the 3 or 4 digits."

"Yeah right, I know you're a Calculus prodigy," he jested, and I bristled a bit at the compliment. "I don't mean to brag, but I did pretty good in Calculus during my senior year. Scored a solid 89% while the class average was 65. I know that you know your stuff."

"What's considered a good mark for a student in university?" I asked, only to want to hit myself afterwards for wording it so awkwardly. Sato didn't seem to notice. Or if he did, he didn't show it.

"Depends, really. There are guys like me who are grateful for a pass. Most of the kids here in To-Oh are kinda mark obsessed, if you know what I mean. You should have _seen _the way they looked at the Top Freshman during the orientation! Pure malice and envy, I tell ya." I nodded, something inside of me turning at the mentioning of the Top Freshman, both of whom I found very strange.

"Do you know them?" Sato looked at me strange. "The Top Freshmen."

He hesitated before answering. "Only Yagami. I have Chemistry with him. Why?"

"Nothing. Just that I don't see them around much," I muttered to the ground, noticing how it was recently swept. I hadn't spoken with Light or Ryuuga in nearly two weeks. I had enough experience with avoiding and being unseen to pull off not associating with him when I really wanted to. And since our last encounter, I really didn't want to see him. Ever. I wasn't so much _mad, _as I was just upset and disappointed that he was such a bad person, yet he had both the looks _and _the brains going on. What a waste.

My cell phone beeped.

_How was your first midterm in Japan? I'm sure you did fine! _

From: Yagami Sayu

I smiled and quickly texted her back, or 'e-mailed', as the Japanese called it. _I took up my entire 2 hours, no room to spare! Should have studied more..._

I clapped it shut and look up to find Sato staring at me. "What?"

"When did _you _get a _phone?" _I blinked.

"Since forever?" I teased. He looked about ready to just leave.

"And you didn't tell me! I thought we had a friendship going on, loser!" He laughed, whipping out his cell. We exchanged e-mails and numbers, and it felt both strange and heart-warming to add another contact to my very short list of friends. I had never asked Sato for his number, only because I hadn't realized that I should have. Asking and exchanging contact information wasn't a social norm for me outside of business...

"So how that's shop going? Still trying to find one?" We both retreated our mobiles and continued on our way to the exit.

"No luck so far. I applied for a few sweet shops but I don't have much... work experience. They turn me down before I can even show them any skills. It's going to be hard," I sighed with genuine frustration. I could forge legal documents and fake ideas, but fake employment history with solid references to contact were improbable.

"Such a waste, G.O.P," I rolled my eyes as he threw in my nickname again.

"Stop it," I said.

"Get used to it," he said.

"Oi, Sato!" His friends called out to him at the entrance. "What took you so long? You're supposed to be good at Calc!"

"Shut up! And I'm better than you guys, at least!" He looked back at me as his friends shouted a fake irritated 'wanna bet on it, Watanabe?' "I'll catch you later, Ray-chan."

"Did you just-?" With a wink, he sped off. I couldn't even fight back the heat rising to my cheeks. Years of feeling disgusted at the stupid pet names that grubby clients called me, like babe, pussycat, and _sugar plum _and yet a simple _–chan _honorific from a genuine good guy gets me to blush.

I was growing soft.

My cell beeped again in my pocket.

_Every time I messaged, you were studying! Either you're lying, or you're being modest, meanie!_

_My mom is planning to bake a cake for a friend that's visiting, but she made the kitchen a mess last time she tried! You owned a bakery! Can you come over and help? Light's not going to be back for a while cause he wants to study at the library, but you can study with him later if he comes home!_

From: Yagami Sayu

I bit my lip. I should really be studying. It was obvious that Sayu just wanted me to go over so we could see each other... I had been avoiding her as of late because of Light, and also because I didn't want to lead the poor girl on. But until she told me herself, it wasn't like I could just go 'sorry, I don't like you. Let's stay friends' all of the sudden. Plus, a small part of me was wary of what Light might do if I broke his little sister's heart... what lengths would he go to get back at me, especially when he already knew a starting piece to my secret? What if he came home early and we bumped into each other? There were so many reasons to decline; to tell her I'm already studying with friends, or that I don't have the time.

_Sure. I'll be there in 30._

I hit Send.

**-X-**

"This is such a big help, you have no idea," Mrs. Yagami cooed, feeling discomfited and grateful at once. I could tell from the way her kitchen still had tiny specs of flour on the inner corners of her counter that it must have been an experience of 'Trial and Error' last time... with perhaps more Error than Trial.

"No problem. It's been a while, so I might be rusty." I looked through her supplies and ingredients, noticing a few things off. "... Mrs. Yagami?"

"Ah- Yes!" She came over to look at what I was looking at.

"How long have you had this baking soda?" I looked at the packaging. The expiry date was 3 months ago.

"Err..." she didn't dare answer, looking at the date just as I was. "...Too long?"

"Good answer." I chuckled. "Was there a giant trench in the middle of your cake the last time you made it?"

She blushed. I had my answer. "That would explain it..."

Sayu giggled from the couch. "Should Rayne and I go get some from the mart?"

"_You, _young lady, have a midterm tomorrow! Go back to your studying!" Sayu pouted and grumbled. I hadn't known that Sayu had tests coming up as well in high school. Not that I came for her at all, but it was depressing and humiliating for her to call me to come and not be able to talk to me. She had been calling me to come over for a while, so I figured it was her own bad luck that the day I could was the day she couldn't talk to me anyways. Maybe she just had bad luck.

"I'll go with you myself. It's quite a far walk, and you won't know the way." I smiled and agreed, looking over a few more packages to be sure that we only needed the baking soda.

"I'm home." I suck in a small breath.

Maybe _I _just had bad luck...

"Oh, Light! Perfect timing! What happened to studying at the library?" His mother twittered, and I dared to look up as she steered him towards me. But before he could even conjure up an answer, she asked, "Light, can you go to the Mart?"

"...The one that's a 20 minute walk from here?" I smirked. At least I wouldn't have to see him for at least an hour as he went and came back.

"Yes! I know it's a far walk, but I have to stay and make sure Sayu studies – Oh, go to your room and study, child! You're much faster than your old mother anyway," she giggled like she was embarrassed to admit it herself.

"Of course," Light agreed graciously. "What do you need?"

"Just some baking soda!"

"Um..." They both looked over at me, Light slower than his mother, as if he didn't quite feel comfortable with his eyes looking at me yet. "You also need more eggs, all purpose flour, and... I think you need a new cake bowl, as well, Mrs. Yagami." I held up the bowl for her to see. "There's a hole in this..."

Her face was crimson. "Oh, dear me, no wonder my cake was a disaster last time. Did you hear all that, Light?"

Light frowned, which might have been the first time I had seen him look anything other than relaxed and friendly in front of his mother. "Baking soda... flour and a cake bowl?"

"Eggs," I added, not looking at him. "And um... what type of cake were you planning to make, Mrs. Yagami?"

"Oh, just chocolate," she informed. "But my friend's favorite is red velvet. I wasn't even aware that that 'red velvet' was edible, nevertheless a type of cake!"

I beamed, my plan working. The more ingredients I added, it was obvious that even though Yagami was smart, he'd take forever trying to find all the ingredients and come back. "I can help you make red velvet cake. But I was wondering if you should make cupcakes instead. There aren't many occasions where you actually need a full cake, and cupcakes can be made for both formal and casual party occasions. And seeing as you need a new pan anyways, I thought you might want to consider."

"Oh, absolutely! You're such a big help, what would I do without you? It's the smartest decision Sayu's ever made, inviting you to come. Thank you so much," Sayu made a face and a complaint from the couch that I didn't hear. I was busy whipping out a notepad and pen.

"Oh, what are you doing?" I clicked my pen.

"I'm going to write Yagami-kun a list-"

"Oh, nonsense! You two boys should go together!" I froze. "My Light may be smart, but I wouldn't trust him in the food isles to know half of what he's buying. You two can go together so that you already know everything to buy. I wouldn't be able to keep you entertained at home anyways."

I said nothing. I had hoped it wouldn't come down to this, but I had dug my own grave. I stifled a sigh and forced a grin instead. "Sure. I'll go with Yagami-kun."

I didn't look up at him. I hadn't looked up at him yet.

"Off you go!" His mother chirped, waving us out the door.

**-X-**

We walked in silence for a full ten blocks – not that I was counting - before Light finally spoke to me.

"For how long do you plan on avoiding me?"

Maybe I had been waiting in anticipation for him to speak, because I instantly blurted, "I don't know, but it hasn't been _long enough."_

He was silent for a moment. He was walking ahead of me, but I could see that he was smirking to himself. "I thought you would deny it."

"Why? There's nothing wrong with avoiding people you're not fond of."

"You're..." he stammered. "I hadn't expected you to react like that."

"Just like how drunk drivers don't _expect _to get into accidents," I retorted.

"Or how puppies don't expect to be punished when they bite their owners for the first time," he countered. It sounded awkward, and almost a bit hopeful.

I grimaced. "Are you trying to imply that I was over-reacting?"

He turned his head toward me slightly. "Are you trying to imply that I _meant _to hurt you?"

I sucked in a breath. Damn him and his stupid brains. Damn him and his stupid good looks. He caught me where I couldn't fire back. It's not like he had cackled when I ran, or he had threatened me with it. Now that I was actually summoning the courage to look at the incident in detail, he hadn't even continued to pursue me to demand details.

He had been curious.

I heaved a sigh. That was a damn understatement, but it was true and I couldn't deny it. We were both smart enough to see it.

"I see that you remember, now." I glanced up and caught his eye looking back at me. I stared straight at him, not wanting him to see me vulnerable again.

"Just because your intentions weren't ill doesn't mean you can just..." I couldn't finish. I had to calm myself before I got worked up. I shut my eyes.

"I didn't know you were so..." he paused, as if for dramatic effect, "sensitive."

It sounded so pathetic; so fragile. It reminded me of why I had started hating him.

He made me feel weak.

"I may have been sensitive_, _but you're still an asshole," I muttered, "so let's take a moment to digest that, shall we?"

I looked up to find him walking beside me now, probably having taken advantage of the fact that I had closed my eyes to calm myself.

"You think I'm an asshole," he repeated, as if to see how the words sounded from his mouth. As he spoke, puffs of warmth would dance from his lips in the cold.

Which were thin enough so that they weren't 'curvy', but just full enough to be fatally sexy.

I did not just think that.

"You _are _an asshole," I corrected. He frowned further. "And you're fake, too."

What was this, Insults Confessional?

"Fake," he reiterated. He sounded casual, as if they were just words. Maybe that was what fueled my anger. I was trying to insult him, and yet he wasn't being insulted.

"And the smile you give everyone is creepy as fuck," I spat bitterly, wrapping my scarf tighter around my neck, "you pompous smartass..."

He cracked a chuckle, and if I weren't trying so hard to still be relaxed and calm (yeah right), I'd have pushed him out into traffic. Not that there were any cars to run him over, because we were walking through the back streets of houses and empty roads.

"You really don't like me," he said, looking at me from the side, "do you?"

I nestled myself into my scarf, and my words came out muffled. _"Nohisit." (1)_

"That's good to know," he said while smiling another one of his creepy, forced smiles. The store was just in sight. "Because I don't like you, either."

**-X-**

To vent my anger out, I made Light carry everything. Or rather, I didn't offer to take the plastic market basket from him as I shoved merchandise into it. I could see him struggling not to grunt as I put the second heaviest bag of all purpose flour into the basket, just short of the giant bag that went to his knee.

He objected. "The small bag should be fine."

"_I'm _the one your mother trusts, remember?" I nearly tweeted, feeling evil and rather childish. It was unbecoming that Light brought out such a side in me, but it was his fault.

"And _I'm _the one with the money paying for all this." I looked at him and made a show of sighing and shrugging.

"Fine," I switched the bag for the medium one. "Only because I'm scared you might collapse on the way back while holding everything with your skinny arms."

"So you've been harboring negative thoughts about me _physically, _as well," he stated as a question.

"Not really," I placed a container of baking soda in. "More like negative thoughts about you _period."_

He cracked a smile, and I almost thought about doing the same until I remembered, once again, that I was mad at him.

Hold on a second.

"Are you..." I spun around to speak to him. We locked eyes and I narrowed my own at him as I walked towards him. He leaned back as I approached, as if not liking the idea of me being anywhere near him, but I stopped a meter short of him – for both of us.

"What?" he challenged firmly, and I noticed his eyes were travelling down from my eyes to the rest of my face, and then further downwards. I quickly turned back around and continued on to find the isle for pans.

"Nothing."

It was much easier to talk to each other when we knew of our mutual dislike for one another. We were basically _bickering_, and I had learned through novels and stories that the word only implied of a carefree, comedic, almost friendly tone.

But it was Light who had first initiated, or _requested _to know of my opinion of him, which would mean that he had...

_"I didn't know you were so..." he paused, as if for dramatic effect, "sensitive."_

Had he been trying to get a rise out of me, so that I would burst?

And to make things worse, had I fallen for the bait?

But that would mean he was purposely getting a rise from me, and thus that he wanted me to let go of the bad energy I was harboring around him, which would then lead to a mutual relationship where we could both openly dislike each other without holding back, _which... _would ultimately be better than the two of us constantly avoiding each other...

Times like this, I really wished my brain would stop over-thinking things. If Light had not planned this, I had just _convinced_ myself out of my own anger towards him.

I glanced back at him again. He just happened to glimpse over and catch my eye, and I looked elsewhere quickly, not caring if I was being obvious.

"You have something to say," he pointed out.

"No I don't."

"At least _try _to lie, Sveinson," he muttered softly, surprisingly close to me from behind. I shivered. He said my name carefully and slowly, like he was being cautious. I couldn't quite understand why, but I didn't give a crap either.

"Well, aren't you a little genius," I stopped abruptly and turned my face towards him, surprising him with my sudden halt. I hadn't known he was so close, and that he would nearly clash into my chest, "Don't play smart with me, Yagami. I'm not in the mood."

We were inches apart, but I pulled away before things could get awkward and bent over to retrieve a cupcake pan from the lower shelf, already knowing most of the models and sizing. "Aren't you going to ask?"

"Ask?" he repeated, like he wasn't paying attention. I looked at him again. He was staring at my jeans: my legs. I walked towards him, since he wasn't moving and put the pan into the basket. He looked at me. "You're talking about your name."

"No, my birthday," I rolled my eyes, stomping to find the rest of the ingredients. _Cocoa powder, vanilla extract, red food coloring: were already put in at the start. All that's left is eggs!_ I strolled to the fridges. "Yes, my name."

"I already know your name," I put the eggs in the basket, and looked up at the face of the male that held it. "Sveinson Rayne."

I stared at him, not saying anything, and letting my frown do all the talking. I sighed, and swiftly hooked the basket with a finger to pull him along to the check out counters.

"Done already?" Light questioned me as we went to line up at the cashier.

I stared directly into those honey brown eyes.

"For now," I answered knowingly.

**-X-**

2 hours passed surprisingly fast as I baked several batches of cupcakes for Mrs. Yagami, and I was just in the middle of piping a few last decorations on the second batch that had come out. About 20 minutes in, Mrs. Yagami had insisted that Light stay down with us and quiz me while I worked, to make up for my time. Surprisingly, Light didn't object.

"Third stage of Mitosis and the process that occurs."

I licked some icing off from the side of my finger. "Anaphase, the split sister chromatids move to the opposing poles of the cell –"

"Using?"

" - using _microtubules," _I faked a glare, telling him that I was getting there. He ignored it and told me to go on with a nod, "The chromosomes then get pulled to opposite poles by the spindle apparatus, and then each pole has a complete set of chromosomes."

I looked up at Mrs. Yagami taking a highly anticipated bite into one of the cupcakes, and then proceeding to melt on the spot. She really was a theatrical woman in front of guests. Something about the way Light and Sayu looked at her strangely told me that she wasn't always like that, though. "What do you think?"

"Spectacular! Delectable! You have to try some, Light!" I gave him a brief look, catching him looking at his mother oddly again. "Sayu! Come down and try some cupcakes!"

Sayu had realized that I had little to no time to speak with her as her mom would tell her to study, and Light and I began reciting terms and our own study material, which distracted her. She ultimately went upstairs herself to study alone.

It was quiet upstairs, and there was no response. Not even a chair creak or the soft thud of footsteps to signify that she was coming down. Unusual. The Sayu I knew would jump at the chance of a break.

"I'll go upstairs to check on her. Light, really, you should try some." Mrs. Yagami left us alone as she trudged up the stairs, calling Sayu's name.

It became eerily quiet.

"You know your stuff," Light praised.

"Thanks," I said awkwardly. "I used to own a shop."

"I meant your _academic _stuff. You couldn't even doing basic twelfth grade Biology last month," he corrected, and I couldn't help but blush at how I had misunderstood. "But you used to own a shop? Where did you get the funding?"

"What do you mean _where_? I _earned _the funding. Money doesn't fall from trees," I said, a bit irked because I was embarrassed at the misunderstanding. I listened intently for Mrs. Yagami's footsteps, because I didn't want her to hear my speaking to her son with such an annoyed tone. She was a good woman and I didn't want her worrying about our... relationship as friends, because she seemed like she would.

"No help from your parents?" he half jested. I looked at him, the mentioning of my parents bringing back a memory from about a month ago.

I put down the piping bag, and crossed my arms over my chest, thoroughly agitated. "Did someone pay you investigate me?"

He seemed amused at the idea. "Why do you ask?"

"You're full of questions," I spat.

"And you're good at avoiding questions," he answered. I glowered at him, slightly upset that he had noticed.

"I have a right to protect my own privacy, thanks," I said without so much of a stutter. "Have a fucking cupcake, asshole."

He smirked, and even I had to break my frown at the irony and contrasting theme of my words. He took one from the tray of finished ones and eyed it. I turned around to take the last batch out from the oven to let them cool.

"That silly girl had fallen asleep! I moved her from her chair to the bed. Sorry it took so long," Light's mother came down the stairs looking peaceful. "Oh, is the last batch done?"

"Yeup. I was thinking we could put them outside to let them cool faster, since the icing and everything will harden if you wait too long and –"

"No problem, let me take it to the back porch! Let me take the ones that are done, too, so I can put them in the cooler downstairs."

"Let me—"

"_You _stay here! You've already done enough, dear!" I almost twisted my tongue. Gosh, what was _with _this woman and her good nature that she somehow kept leaving me alone with her son!

"Okay..." I said to no one as she put on oven mittens and took the tray from the counter and held on in each arm. She left us again.

I turned to look at Light. "Is she always like –"

I started laughing. Light looked utterly lost, making the image even funnier and more hilarious. "What?"

"You have something right here," I pointed at my own left cheek, where he had a dab of blue frosting just sitting there, as if waving to me. I just found it so funny, how a guy with so much pride and arrogance could still do something so childish and cliché.

He touched at his right cheek, a mirror image of me, and I rolled my eyes. "Why do people always do that? Left cheek!"

He wiped his left cheek, cheeks starting to tint a rosy pink color and missed it. He wiped it again. "Too high! It's right next to your – NO, you're moving farther away from it! It's right next to your lip... I said _next _to it, not on- Oh, give me a break. Here, let me."

I sighed and took my mittens off, walking around the corner. "Isn't it usually the girl that does this, so that her crush can lick it off or something arousing like that?"

"Arousing?" Light repeated incredulously, like he'd never heard the term before, which I knew wasn't the case.

"Arousing," I confirmed, stopping in front of him. And then, feeling frisky and a bit light-headed because of the situation, I did the unthinkable.

"Like this."

I took Light's chin gently in one hand to lift his face up to mine, and used the other to wipe the frosting off with my thumb, in a caressing motion. My fingers brushed just shy of his skin, but I let go brusquely so he would remember that I still held a grudge.

Light hadn't moved half an inch. His eyes didn't leave the spot where I stood.

"What? Feeling emasculated?" I quipped, licking my thumb of the frosting just for spite. "You should."

I ran my hands under tap water and flicked them dry before running my wet fingers through my hair to keep my bangs out from my eyes. "Do you think your mom might be... _watching _for the cupcakes to cool down?"

"... Perhaps," he said quietly, as if slowly recovering from a spell. I felt a bit guilty, thinking perhaps I overdid it. Perhaps the thought of being flirted with by another dude not only didn't float his boat, but maybe it was sinking his boat, if you get my drift. I could recall the conversation he had with T-Rex, and how he had insisted that he drop the topic when T-Rex suggested that maybe I was checking him out. It wouldn't surprise me if he weren't so open to the idea of being anything other than straight, being such a conceited pretty boy.

"I don't... usually bring friends over," he stated simply. I understood immediately, nodding. To his mother, I was basically a proof that her son wasn't some studious loner with no social life.

I wonder if she knew about Misa, or T-Res, or half the population of To-Oh freshman girls who whispered about him when he wasn't around.

"I'll go check on your mother-"

"I'm back!" I nearly faltered. There was no way that was a coincidence. Had she been listening to us? I didn't hear a thing, nevertheless the sound of her re-opening the door.

But how much, if any, did she hear?

"Light, go upstairs and finish your studying. Thanks for being a dear and helping your mother out. I'll clean up," I stood awkwardly where I was. "Ray-kun, would you mind staying a bit? I want to ask you for some advice."

"Sure," I replied without suspicions. Light packed his books and headed upstairs, and the sound of his door clicking shut was enough to trigger his mother's spree.

"Ray-kun," she said seriously, "Is it my daughter, or my son that you're interested in?"

I froze.

"Mrs. Yagami, I'm not entirely surely what you mean by this," I ventured cautiously, watching for her reaction. Did she think...

"I can tell by the way my daughter looks at you that she's completely blind. She's not as smart as her brother, but she's a good girl and always does her work and studies hard. The minute you walk in, she's unable to focus at all, and keeps making excuses to talk to you. You have my baby hooked." I tried my best to refrain from fidgeting.

"And with Light," I listened carefully, wanting to hear this from a third party. "My son didn't even stare at me that much when he was attached to me as a little boy."

I sighed through a tight jaw. Great. His mother was mistaking Light's nosiness as infatuation. I was a victim in many more ways than one.

"If Sayu harbors romantic feelings for me, I'm sorry to say – or maybe you'll be glad to know – that I don't feel the same way. She was the first person to be nice to me on in Japan, since we met on the plane ride," she nodded and followed well, so I assumed she had already heard this story from Sayu before, "and I see her as a little sister type figure, and a good friend to have."

"For now," she finished. I frowned, and she let out a little giggle.

"Oh, I'm just teasing, silly!" she giggled delightfully. I was so quiet, and so grateful that Sayu was asleep and –

I looked up abruptly at Light's room was closest to the staircase. Sayu's was on the other side of the house, past the washroom and master bedroom, and on the off chance that he actually wanted to spy on me and his mother, all he had to do with pressed close to the door and not say a word.

"So I guess the answer is Light?" I switched focus back to his mother, trying not to turn into a tomato. "Okay, okay! I get it, I'm just teasing."

"Mrs. Yagami..." I said weakly. "There is _nothing _going on between your _son _and I, and I think it offends _him_ much more than me when you imply that he could have any type of homosexual feelings for me. Whether it is the 'homo' part, or implication that he likes _me _of all people."

"I see..." she accepted, rather quickly. I feared if I had perhaps taken her words too seriously. Maybe she really was joking around with me, strictly for laughs. I wouldn't know. She didn't look uncomfortable, but rather like my words were making sense.

"You have midterms to study for as well, don't you? You should get going now, child. I can handle the last batch of decorations by myself, don't worry."

"U-um, okay," I stammered, slowly fetching my stuff and wrenching my hands. I walked to the door.

"I was only teasing, Ray-kun," she repeated. "I won't mention it to them."

I bit my lip and managed a small nod, feeling more at ease after hearing her say that. "Thank you, Mrs. Yagami."

"Oh, I almost forgot!" She held up a finger and ran back towards the direction of her back porch. She came back holding a plastic container of Cupcakes, which I had bought at the store for her. "Take these with you."

"What?" I blurted, unable to hide my surprise. "But – your friend-!"

"My friend and I are _two people,"_ she emphasized, and I blushed. "When I saw you baking, I could see the love and care in your expression and I didn't dare stop you."

"... I baked 48..." I confessed, realizing how stupid I had been, completely taken away by the smell of baking at mass and decorating, which I hadn't done in nearly three months. The small cakes that I had made for Sato had just been one tray's worth.

She giggled. "I know, and now we only have to eat 20! Take half, dear, and give them to your friends. It's the least I can do for all your help today."

I made a strained face, but took them and bowed. "I'll be going now. Thank you, Mrs Yagami, for your kindness."

She nodded. "Have a safe trip home. Would you like me to get Light and-...?"

"No!" I cried, much too quickly. She laughed out loud and I scampered off their doorstep and began heading off, just in case she ignored me and called Light to say goodbye, or worse: walk me home.

"Say goodbye to Sayu for me," I said just before turning the corner. "And wish Light good luck on his exams!"

"Of course, dear," she laughed. "I'll see you again soon!"

_Hopefully not _too _soon, _I sighed, hiking my messenger bag further up onto my shoulder.

**End of Chapter Six.**

**-X- **

(1) – "No shit." Just incase you couldn't tell.

A bit of a filler, but the reeeal juiciness will come in.. eh, 2 to 4 chapters from now? NEXT CHAPTER IS PROGRESS WITH YOUR FAVORITE GENIUS DETECTIVE AGAIN WOOHOO!

As much as I love writing in first person, I reeeally have to withhold my urge to tell you guys, the readers, everything's that's happening, ESPECIALLY with calculating guys like Light and L, but I'll try my best to keep them in character. I pushed Light a bit OOC in this chapter, but I swear he'll go back to his devious, killing self soon. I realized I was writing him a bit too eerie... and he's actually a well-rounded guy, you know? Did I just say that? LOL I DON'T KNOW ANYMORE.

I already have the next chapter planned out so hopefully you guys won't have to wait too long! **Review if you have time, but otherwise: stay beautiful and enjoy your summer!**


	7. Trial :: Seven ::

Time for a comeback. Hang on for the ride, folks.

(1) Masculine Speech -If you aren't aware, females and males in Japan use slightly different words from one another when referring to 'I', themselves, etc. This can help in identifying someone's gender or sex. (ie. Boku, Ore, Atashi, etc...)

**-X-**

**Chapter Seven: Trial**

**-X-**

My keys jingled as I inserted the key to my mailbox into the slot. Two envelopes greeted me: one from the bank, and a hydro bill. Once in the elevator, I pressed my floor and waited silently for the flashing numbers to ascend. The woman beside me got off at 17, and I was alone as I descended upwards toward 26 without any additional stops. I was tired, so I just let myself zone out for a while, leaning casually on the wall of the elevator and closing my eyes. The gentle rumble of my personal cubicle cradled me like a baby, lulling me to sleep, making me uncomfortably aware of how sore I was from all the walking and working my limbs had gone through...

My sore eyes flickered upwards, meeting the digital '22' on display, I wasn't able to stop my thoughts from wandering to the old man I had met the other day. I slicked my tongue across my front teeth and let slip a little grimace. The elevator doors opened, but it didn't derail my train of thought, musing back on the eeriness of the situation, the extremely rare probability that I could land on the same floor as him while being chased-

I scowled, unlocking my door and pushing into my space. I shuffled my shoes off and dropped my keys on the counter top, tossing my bag off onto the couch. I set the cupcakes down on my counter, wondering briefly if I should put them in the fridge and just eat them by myself.

But then I had a better idea.

**-X-**

"Hey."

L dug his hands deep into his denim pockets, hiding himself behind the doorframe of a room down the hall, where the guest at the entrance couldn't see him. Watari had answered the door when they had seen who it was with the cameras. Besides, L had been watching the mysterious specimen ever since he first strolled into the building holding a container of cupcakes.

And there he was, at their door, holding that exact same container.

"Mr... Sveinson, if I do recall?"

"Impressive memory, Mr. Watari." L could hear the smile behind his words, poking fun at Watari's old age.

"What brings you here at this time of night?" It was 22:00, not that L was even close to going to sleep.

"I happened to be baking earlier, and I thought I'd bring you a batch, as a thank you for the other day." The young detective shifted the balance of his weight onto the other foot. "I hope that's okay. I don't want to come off as forceful or anything, but there's no way a simple thank you was gonna cut it."

Watari chuckled, and L heard the crackling transfer of flimsy plastic between strong hands. "My, that is very thoughtful of you, Sveinson-san. Do you bake often?"

"Sometimes." L nibbled on his lip. That was a lie.

"Just call me Ray; Sveinson sounds really awkward in Japanese," came naturally from his tenor voice. Now that all L could hear was his voice, he was aware of how high it was for a man's voice who would no longer go through puberty. It sounded a tad higher for a man, which wasn't that uncommon for many males in Japan, but...

"Ray-san," Watari obliged, "Thank you very much. I would invite you to come in, but... It is rather untidy at the moment."

"No need. I just came to deliver," the guest quipped. "I'll be heading back. Thanks again for helping me out. The cops haven't even come to ask my questions. You must have taken care of it well. Thanks so much."

L's lips tugged upwards. Acting clueless, with a bold hint of accusation and suspicion. This student certainly didn't play it entirely safe.

"Invite him out," L whispered into the microphone. "Tomorrow, or some other day."

"Just a moment, Ray-san," Watari stopped him from leaving, and there was a slight pause. "Perhaps not at this time of day, but at a later time of your convenience, would you like to meet for coffee or lunch?"

"... Coffee or lunch..." L wouldn't have heard this mutter if not for the microphone attached to Watari, transmitting their conversation to his earpiece. "Sure. Why not? I have midterms now through Friday, so how about Friday afternoon? Two p.m. sound alright?"

"Two p.m. sounds fantastic," Watari agreed. "We can meet downstairs in the lobby."

"Perfect," he proclaimed, dashing away to the stairways.

Watari shut the door quietly and L emerged from his room. He glided to his desk and flickered the massive screens on again, displaying his guest heading back to his room. Watari settled the cupcakes on the coffee table.

"Perfect," L agreed.

**-X-**

Three days had passed quite quickly, and I was done my midterms so the stress was more or less off my shoulders. Now all I had to do was wait for the teachers to mark and for them to post the marks.

"Do you wear a suit everywhere you go?" was my first reaction as I saw Watari making his way to the lobby. It was quite amusing that he was wearing his suit yesterday at home, and something told me that he hadn't just returned home after a business party.

Watari chuckled, and did not answer. He gestured with his arm for me to start walking. "After you."

"And I would take up your offer if I only knew where we were headed."

"This is the entire essence," he said, "of spontaneity."

I crossed my arms and couldn't help but shoot a brow up. The lobby was full of people Saturday morning, and a tour group was just heading in through the main doors at the very hour. The building was both an apartment space and hotel. With a crack of a smile, I waved for him to follow.

"After me, then, old man."

There was a 'coffee shop' down two blocks away that had served me quite well the past few days. It was a medium-sized, sweet smelling shop with red blue and silver decorations already strung up for the Holidays. They served snacks and meals as well, and I was quite hungry for their cakes and biscuits. They were unlike American coffee shops where you go up to order at the counter, because they were basically a restaurant based mainly on drinks and snacks than an actual coffee shop. I had visited a few Taiwanese and Hong Kong style places in America, and found them quite similar to each other. I hadn't had a chance in Japan to explore and see if the rest of the coffee shop were all this.

"Not bad?" I quipped, as the waiter greeted us and took us a to far table.

"Nothing of the sort," he confirmed. The waiter gently set down the menus and courteously left us alone to consider.

Just then, a figure walked through the doors, dressed warmly in a winter coat. The man sat down several tables away, at a side profile from us. He kept his gaze lowered and strummed his fingers on the tabletop, waiting to be properly greeted. I strained my eyes a bit to see that his fingers were pale and slender. He didn't go out much. Perhaps he was a sheltered, ill-type of character.

I quickly refocused. However, despite my initial suspicions for Watari, I could feel my guard going down. Could it really be that I was just paranoid? Sure, maybe I was missing out some details, but in the end, he had helped me from those thugs. Who was I to doubt his intentions just because he told a few lies to cover up what might just be an inconvenient truth-

"I am prepared to order, Ray-san," Watari said, drawing my attention back, his gaze harder and more tense than usual. I nodded, and I said that I was ready.

The waiter went to the mysterious looking man at the table and took down his order first. We also ordered with a kind-looking lady and when she went away, I wasted no time starting a conversation to try and distract me from the man I found so... enigmatic.

"I was surprised when you invited me out, Mr. Watari." I was careful to keep my tone of voice from being too sour. "I would assume your intentions are more than to exchange idle raillery over coffee?"

"You are mistaken, Ray-san," he proclaimed, "that is _precisely _why I invited you out."

I cracked a smile. "I hope you're joking. I only said that because I've been waiting to say 'raillery' out loud."

Our waiter brought our drinks and placed them gently on the table. Watari muttered a polite thank you. We had both ordered teas, even though I had such a sweet tooth - I was trying to break the habit. His cup of earl grey came with a little teapot, just like my jasmine green tea.

"This is quite delectable," Watari assured, taking a long sip from his drink.

"You should try their holiday drinks," I encouraged, picking up the stand-up menu on the table. "This one in particular is really unique - and this one too! You barely even notice it, but there's a touch of mint added in their hot chocolate, and the balance in their pumpkin spice is just _top-notch."_

Watari chuckled. "You possess quite the avid admiration for sweets, I take it."

I smirked. "You take it quite right."

"I know someone quite similar to you," he went on, "and although I care for him dearly, I _do _sometimes wonder how his body functions on so..."

There. Right then, the man sitting across the room snapped to look at me, and his lips had the slightest of movement. He was talking. To who? Did he look at me just coincidentally, or was something happening? I couldn't see him clearly from such a distance...

What was happen-

"Mr. Sveinson?" Watari lowered his hand from his ear.

"Oh!" I coughed into my sleeve, embarrassed for my lack of attention. "I was just a bit distracted. I'm sorry."

I wouldn't look over there again. What was wrong with me? Watari's features showed that he was more than understanding. "Please go on. This friend of yours who likes sweets? You said he-"

_Clang! _Watari winced slightly from the sound of the porcelain spoon falling from Mystery Man's table.

I narrowed my eyes in suspicion. Mystery Man turned away.

I leaned back in my seat, letting the chair creak slightly, and sighed.

"Mr. Watari... I hope you know that I regard you quite reverently."

"I am honored, Mr. Sveinson. I can truthfully reply that I feel similarly towards yourself."

"I believe you, Mr. Watari, so let's get to the point." I crossed my arms onto the tabletop, quite impatient and upset. "What do you want with me?"

The wind-chimes at the front of the store jangled brightly as another customer walked in. She greeted the barista familiarly, and leaned over to show him something on her phone.

"You caught on just as quickly as we had expected, Mr. Sveinson." The compliment did little to soothe how upset I was.

Mystery Man was still turned away from me, and I pursed my lips into a firm scowl. If my suspicions were correct, he was feeding information to Watari through an earpiece. Someone Watari's age must have had worse hearing than I, and with that man sitting at such a far distance, for the gentlest of clangs to make Watari wince, it was obvious that he was 'listening' at a fair closer distance than usual.

"You better start explaining yourself right now," I leaned my upper body forward menacingly, "before I decide to _really _find out _myself _what this is all about."

_Ting-a-ling, ting, ting, ting..._The metal wind-chimes reflected bits of caught sunlight onto the walls. Watari's fingers extended to grasp his cup for a sip.

"Sveinson Rayne-san," he held the pause, voice sounding a bit more uncertain than his usual courteous assertiveness, "you-"

My ringtone sounded. I forced an aggravated sigh from my nostrils, and took my phone out from my sweater pocket. A scan of the caller ID told me it was an unknown number. "You were just about to say...?" I hung up without a second thought, eyes downwards as I buried it back into my pocket.

"Sveinson Rayne-san," he sounded confident this time, and I frowned. Was he stalling because he was trying to listen to receive information from Mystery Man? My phone call has just given him enough time to receive it fully. Just as my prediction registered, Mystery Man got up from his seat and began shuffling to the door. My voice got caught in my throat as I got ready to get up and shout for him to stop-

"My employer has taken an interest in you."

My lips parted, and a breathe escaped.

"Your employer," I repeated. "Well you can tell your employer that I'm not fond of attention, and that I'd really prefer if that interest turned into a disinterest... _Now._"

"I suspect that your impression of both myself and my employer are less than admiration," Watari took another sip of his tea. I licked my lips and reached out to take a long chug of my own cup, setting it down on the table with a loud bang when I was done, and I poured myself another cup.

"Well, are you going to tell me who your employer is?"

"I'm afraid I was given specific instructions not to disclose his identity."

"That's not all you're going to be afraid of if you don't _spill everything right now_."

"Alas, it is not under my jurisdiction to reveal _everything right now _to you, Ray-san."

I grit my teeth, jaw tight with vexation and anger boiling in the pit of my stomach. I parted my lips to speak, only to silence myself. I blew out a stream of air and calmed myself. I was getting worked up again. _Calm down. You need to think straight._

"Did you also invite me to coffee today... under the orders of your... 'employer'?"

"That is correct."

_"What the fuck," _I hissed under my breath, scoffing. Watari regarded me, and I could tell that he was considering his words. Or maybe he was listening to his employer through the earpiece. I glowered.

"I'd like to give you a test, Ray-san."

"A test?" I repeated scornfully. "And is this you or your so-called 'employer' speaking?"

"My employer has requested that I relay the message: does it matter?" I chuckled.

"A test. Great. Do I need paper and pen, or is this an oral presentation of some sort? How about a powerpoint? I've never actually made a powerpoint before, so that'd definitely be a test for me."

They paid no heed to my sarcasm, and by 'they', I meant both Watari and his employer. And maybe Mystery Man, unless Mystery Man _was _the employer...

Watari grinned, and I narrowed my gaze. "If you are able to pass the test, my employer has agreed that he will... 'tell you everything', as he puts it."

"Everything. I like the way that sounds, but," I leaned forward and took another sip of my drink, just to draw out a dramatic pause, "how do I know you'll keep your word? Seems to me like you know a lot more about me than I know about _either _you or your... Do I have to keep calling him your employer?"

"..." I waited for the man on the other end of the earpiece to speak to Watari. "My employer informs that 'friend' would also be most appropriate."

I smiled cheekily to myself, disbelieving that I was still in this guy's presence. A month ago I might have lost patience and dragged him into a back alley to interrogate. Whoever Watari and his employer was, they were powerful - powerful enough for the National Police Agency in Japan to recognize and back off.

"Your friend..." Nodding to myself, I took another sip, and heaved a sigh. "So what's the test?"

"The test is..." Watari listened carefully, and a smile escaped on his pale lips. I tilted my head, anticipating.

"To find who is on the other end of my earpiece within the next 48 hours."

I frowned.

"There are over 50 million people in Tokyo, and you want me to find _one person _in the next 48 hours with absolutely no lead?" I scoffed. "And your friend might not even be in Japan, he could be in Australia or Britain for all I know."

Watari took another gentle sip of his tea while waiting for instructions. "Would you like to speak to him?"

"What?" Watari pulled out his phone and slowly pressed away at it, before handing me the device. I glanced at the screen, but there was no picture, and the screen name was literally 'Friend'. I shot Watari an unimpressed look, and then held the phone up to my ear, listening to the dial tone.

_Click. "Hello."_

I scoffed. Even the voice was disguised as a high-pitched chipmunk. "Hello, friend of Watari. I kind of hate you."

I could practically hear the bemused tone on the other end. _"That tone of voice certainly isn't going to earn you an easy hint."_

I smirked into the device, and leaned back, feeling strangely curious and mischievous, and not too mad - yet. "What happens if I don't find out who you are?"

_"Then I won't stop my interest in you." _The person on the other end was using masculine speech (1), so I dared to predict that he was male. I made a mental note to not ignore the fact that he or she might just be faking it, though.

"Is that a nicer way of saying that you'll stop stalking me?" I remarked, half joking. Watari cracked a smile, and I frowned. "Wait, are you stalking me?"

_"I'd prefer to call it... Investigating."_

I grumbled, hopefully inaudibly, and I cleared my throat. "So, Watari's Friend, are you going to give me a hint or not?"

_"I already did." _

"... You already did. Fantastic." I glared, wishing he was present to see it. Or maybe he was: was it my own paranoia or did that black front screw in Watari's glasses look more like a little camera lens? "Well, I'd like a better one. Tell me your name."

There was a silence on the other end, and what I heard to be a chair's squeak. "Fine, just your first name. I'm not gonna play along if I don't feel like I have a fair chance."

_"My first name is one in twenty-six." _What? _"And I'll correct you, Sveinson-san. This is not a game that you are playing along to. This is a test."_

"Right. That if I pass, you tell me everything, and if I fail, you'll continue to be interested in me. Are you sure this isn't a really round-about way of asking me out?"

_"It's only drastic because you're unaware of just what I've been able to find out about you due to my interest."_

"... What do you mean?"

_"Or rather, what I _haven't _been able to find out about you, Sveinson Rayne. If that really is who you are. You've hidden your past quite well, but you made one mistake."_

I heard clanging sounds, similar to what you'd hear when you put a tea cup or metal utensil on a plate. _"You caught my interest."_

"I'll see you tonight!" The girl speaking to the barista, who entered earlier, pecked him once on the lips and skipped out of the store, leaving the boy red faced and smiling bashfully to himself.

_"You're keeping your composure quite well for someone who I've noticed to be quite fiery."_

"I'm going to find you," I spat without hesitation. "I'm not playing your stupid game, but I'm going to pinpoint _exactly _where you are, because you need to be taught a lesson about minding your own fucking business."

I heard the clanging noise again, and I supposed he was eating. I genuinely hoped for him to choke.

_"Your test starts now."_

"See you in 48 hours."

I hung up.

**End of Chapter Seven.**

**-X-**

A shorter chapter, but it was a good way for me to warm up back into the story. My literate abilities have been at a standstill for an entire year, so I know that this chapter was thoroughly lacking, but I hope it's good little tickle: I'm here, guys! I'm still alive!

It's been a while, hasn't it? Well since my laptop broke down, I bought a new one, got back into art, got really really involved in my community and school... it was hard for me to stay loyal to my online community, especially to my readers - mix that in with a little bit of writers block and lack of motivation, and you've got yourself some serious thinking to do if you really want to return. University Applications are coming up right away, so this entire past year has been really important to my academics! With all my tryhard-ness, it was hard to balance this and my life.

If you didn't already know, I read every single review. Every. Single. One. I get notified of all alerts, favorites, and reviews the minute it happens. (And believe me, the emails for the past year have struck a guilt chord in me every time - and for good reason. I'm really terrible to you guys...)

Sometimes Life gets in the way. I won't apologize for being away.

But I _will_ apologize for leaving you guys unaware for so long. You guys deserve better than that. I truly am sorry, and I really hope to finish the stories I have on here before my next great hiatus.

Thanks for reading, and it's great to be back (:


	8. Clash :: Eight ::

_My mind reaches out beyond a haze ever so slowly. A wiggle of my fingers tell me that I haven't lost them. I feel for various other parts of my body as my brain gains control, and my limbs attempt to prop my body up. Something - or someone - emits a gasping noise beside me. I feel the skin wrinkling between my brows as I wince, and then the headache slowly, but surely, creeps in._

_"NANA! She's moving!"_

_The first thing I see when I open my eyes is a pair of glassy brown orbs, blinking at me with an uncomfortably curious fervor. _

_My headache picks up momentum._

_"Hey, stay down! Don't move yet! Nana!" he shrieks, and I try to force a snarl from my throat, but it seems to be clogged. I manage no more than a pained expression._

_"Stephen, for heaven's sake, give the girl some room!" A lady enters the room, pale and wrinkled from many years beyond the boy and myself combined. She wears a knitted beige sweater and a long black skirt. It is then that I realize I'm dressed in long, loose garments that are not my own. Covered in dressings and white wrappings, I realize how patchy I am._

_"My name is Patricia, child. What is yours?"_

_All I manage to do is breathe, the answer to her simple question escaping me. It is such a stupid question. It is a question I've never been asked before._

_What is my name?_

_Her eyebrows draw in, and she hums. "It seems that you don't remember. Do not worry, dear. I'm sure it will come to you in time?"_

_The way she ends the words in a question settles me for some reason, as if she doesn't expect me to remember at all, and it's alright._

_"I'm Stephen!" pips the boy beside me. I had almost forgotten about him. My hand slowly draws over my thighs from above the blanket covers. It is warm here, and I am bandaged. "I'm eight!"_

_I swallow, eyes traveling to the window. The woman, Patricia, glides over to remove the shielding curtains. It is snowing outside, the world covered in a thick sheet of white. I try to think back to how I escaped the forest, after being dumped by the men to rot in the soil. How long had I walked? I glanced at my tightly bandaged feet told me that the answer was a simple 'too long'._

_I faintly recall the first snowflakes stinging my cheeks, the cold air numbing my throat and then..._

_I glance to the door seconds before it creaks, and a figure emerges from the dark. It is a tall man, looking slightly past thirty five years who greets me with a cunning smile. His dark locks flourish from his scalp in tiny waves, and his face is properly framed with well-groomed facial hair._

_I know right away that I do not like him._

**-X-**

**Chapter Eight: Clash**

**-X-**

I was going insane.

The bus vehicle shook over the uneven roads, jostling my body up and down, back and forth. I grasped the bar tentatively, not because I couldn't keep myself balanced, but because I was so busy mulling over my thoughts, I didn't entirely trust myself to stay focused on keeping myself upright. Take it as giving my physical capabilities a break. The ride to Central Library was a long one, but my stop was approaching. I shuffled to the middle doors, awaiting the full rocky brake, and hopped off. It was early enough, just past noon, but the autumn air was already warranting my mouth to resemble a smoking chimney with each breath.

But back to my mental sanity: yes, I was quite sure that it was gradually decomposing away.

I had been in Japan for hardly a two months and already, at least two people were getting the fuck up in my business. Watari would probably know through his employer, too, so scratch that number out to a three.

The strong molars of my teeth ground together, and I exhaled irritably. What the hell? I reminded myself to keep calm. I had a temper, quite apparently prone to flaring up like a forest fire with no intention of dying down once it caught. The glowing embers were being fanned with oxygen, but I was trying my best to keep the flames from sparking outside the pit.

Coffee with Watari had ended abruptly after my conversation with his employer. I decided that I didn't want to go home - since it was the same direction Watari was probably heading, as well, and I had a feeling that my hunch of that room possessing cameras and computer screens... Was probably right.

Probably, probably, probably. I had no inkling of anything solid. Speaking of what I had no idea about, I also had close to no leads on who Watari's friend was. I tried to think back to that brief and terribly useless phone conversation.

"My name is one in 26." Twenty Six. Was his name a number? I scoffed at the notion.

One in twenty six. Two one six? I grumbled and pulled out my phone to use the library internet. 216...

Area code, highways... University courses... Song, math ... No. I refined my search to a simply '216 name', feeling foolish yet hopeful.

I browsed for a few minutes before giving up, and reclined in my chair. It simply wasn't enough to give me any concrete leads. Even if I found out his name, how was I going to find _him? _This was a near impossible task, and I just...

... I leaned forward once more, and rubbed my aching eyes.

_'That tone of voice certainly isn't going to earn you an easy hint.' _I furrowed my brows. The way he spoke - I'd take the liberty of assuming it was a male - was average: no particular diction or pronunciation quirk that I could pick up on.

'_I'd prefer to call it... Investigating.'_

Investigating. That was the word he had used, following a dramatic pause. If I recalled correctly, I'd asked him to give me a hint then, and he had answered with a prompt _'I already did'._

Was the word 'investigating' my hint? Was he a scientist? Or researched or... An actual Investigator?

"Investigating..." The word sounded strange from my lips, and from the way it was repeating over and over in my mind, it was starting to sound less and less like a word.

_Police connections, preventing crime, helping victimized citizens... Overly curious and nosy in someone else's business. Seem to fit the criteria. Eerie technology lighting from inside a dim room would explain security cameras... _

I froze, eyes focused on the wooden table surface in front of me. The area around me was strangely quiet, and I whipped my gaze around.

A chill rattled up my spine.

I was a regular at this library, or any library for that matter. At least twice a week I'd venture here, most of the time even more. I preferred Central over the Campus library: too many students, too many familiar faces. If I showed up there as a regular, people in school would soon start to recognize me, and I wasn't entirely sure if that was something I wanted, especially with everything being so unsettling now. I hadn't joined any clubs or fraternities. I just wasn't sure, with everything so new, if I was ready for it. What if it became too obvious that I'd never received a public education, or that I'd never interacted with people my age too frequently.

On that note, the library was the only place anyone would ever know me, since I did such a good job of never standing out in class.

_What if my little investigator is right here, in this very library, watching me?_

I spun my eyes across the perimeter again, scanning for any suspicious movement. Just tranquil adults and other college students studying, perusing the shelves-

Across the way, there was a girl. Strangely familiar, my gaze lingered on her, taking in the brown locks of her hair, half braided in a way to drape across the front to the back of her head. She blushed when her eyes landed on me, and I couldn't help but feel a heat to my cheeks. How dorky had I looked, spinning my head around like a fan?

She looked around my age, and now that I dare to peek a better look at her, she was rather pretty. With a glance up, she met my eyes again before abruptly looking away. I cleared my throat, angling my head away so I wouldn't see her. I wasn't in the mood for feigned flirting. Despite becoming close to Saya and parading around as a guy, I wasn't _actually _attracted to girls, I found.

I'd nearly forgotten about her after half an hour had passed. I picked up my books, shelved them, and made my way to exit the library. As I strode passed her, I chanted in my mind in hopes that she wouldn't muster the initiative to start a conversation with-

"Um," she stammered out. I nearly cursed. "Rayne-san?"

I blinked, and slowly directed my gaze at her. I could feel the reluctance in my expression, and from the way she gulped, it seemed like she could too. "Yes?"

"I'm Naomi," she introduced, and I forced a lift of my lips as she sported a weak, embarrassed smile. "... Last week, when you were outside studying... There was a group of people playing ultimate...?"

"With the disk?" I recalled back to the incident, and it dawned on me. "You're the girl from then!"

She blushed, and looked a bit relieved. Guilt settled into me as I realized how unfriendly I was being. It was hard to conjure any kind of friendliness when my mood was absolute crap, though, but I did my best to flash a smile. "Sorry for not recognizing you at first. I don't really pay attention..."

"Oh, no, no! It's fine!" She laughed, like I'd just made a joke, though it didn't sound forced or fake. Her laughter was heavy, not entirely natural-sounding. "I'm not offended, I was just hoping you'd know who I was so this would be less creepy."

I leaned a palm on a chair back as she spoke, keeping my distance by not taking a seat across from her. She went on, "I just kind of noticed that I don't see you around campus a lot. Are you involved in any clubs? You should really try out for the, uh, Ultimate Team, and I-I mean... Really."

I tried to hold back a grin, but it escaped past my amused emotions. Was she flirting with me, or did she honestly think that because I could catch a disk decently meant I could try out for Varsity? "Thanks... But sports aren't really my thing."

"Oh." She seemed to give me a once over. "I see... Well, I-I just thought... You have really quick reflexes. And you caught the disk like you've played before, so I just thought... You know."

I grinned. Playing on a Varsity Club? Didn't really seem like my cup of tea, despite being decently athletic for a girl, but only because I took it upon myself to keep in shape for my... former ... rendezvous. Ever since I'd stopped, I hadn't even had a chance to work out. Maybe that was why my body felt so sluggish...

"I'll think about it. Thanks, Naomi."

"No problem," she assured. "See you around!"

**-X-**

A cold winter breeze greeted me outside the library as I pushed through the revolving doors. I hadn't even noticed how cold it had gotten, though it must've been my own negligence of the weather.

I wrapped my sweater tighter around me, which did near nothing to shield me from the frosty temperatures, and scuttled down the cement.

The train station was always swarmed with pedestrians. Keeping steady at the back of the pack, I glanced behind me briefly, as if checking to see if a bus had made it to the stop or not. People were still coming down the steps individually. It was going to be impossible to -

My cell phone buzzed against my pocket. It was Watari.

I answered it without even thinking, and before I could even speak into the receiver,

_"Good afternoon."_ My face fell. That was not Watari's voice; it was a voice changer.

"... Good afternoon," I managed, keeping my composure. I glanced around. Too many people were on their cell phones, their hands cupped over their mouths so that they wouldn't disturb the public. I chose to do the same, to muffle my words from anyone beside me.

"What do you want?"

_"I'll take it that you won't be needing another hint, then." _I compelled myself not to scoff loudly into the receiver. I wanted so badly to hang up on him with all the dignity I could muster, but I needed this hint. _Swallow down your pride, and then slap him across the face with it later..._

"I'm listening," I grit out.

_"In exchange for 24 hours, you may ask me one single question, and I will answer the question truthfully."_

"... Is this a one time offer?"

_"... Is that your question?" _he droned, but I knew from his tone of voice that he was merely toying with me. I had nothing but his word, but I was already too far into this, mentally, to pull out now.

I could basically hear the purr from the other end of the phone:

_Ask wisely._

I only had one question. I should've thought hard and long on it, but instead, I threw all my logic away and asked the first thing that popped into my head.

"Why are you so invested in me?" When he didn't reply, I immediately followed with, "I want the truth. Not some dumbed-down version of it, either.

_"I never promised that."_

I hissed, rubbing my temples.

_"There is only one main reason." _I turned my volume louder and focused so hard, I was sure my facial expression was absolutely ridiculous.

_"I want you on my team."_

I authorized myself to roll my eyes and give a mental snort. What's with my popularity nowadays? First I'm asked to try out for Varsity Ultimate Frisbee, and now Mystery Man's team?

"And what if I don't _want _to be on your team?"

_"I'd say that my team would be right up your alley; or perhaps you'd prefer the term criminal record. Yes, I suppose it'd fit snugly into your history."_

I held my breath.

Who...

_"See you in 17 hours."_

"Wait." I ultimately spat, bounding off at my station stop. "One more question."

He said nothing.

"I'll exchange 15 hours for it," I growled.

_"I'm listening."_

"Will you sue you me if I kick down your door?"

I could practically hear the ever-so-subtle lift of his lips. I knew exactly where he was, and he knew that I knew, too.

He hung up.

**-X-**

It took every shred of restraint to keep my foot from pounding at the heart of his door and kicking it down. There was still a chance I was wrong. I was being rash, but I wanted so badly to be right. I didn't have to wait long as shadows appeared from under the door before it swung open.

I was so, _so _stupid. _Why wasn't this the first place I checked?!_

My breath hitched as Watari opened the door.

"_Where is he?_ I know he's in there!" My fingers twitched, but my anger would have no place with Watari.

"That depends on who you are looking for, Sveinson-san," he chided.

"And I suppose you're not going to invite me in because it's _messy_, am I right?" I spat, "I've had enough of this. I forfeit participation in this test -"

"Your test," I gasped, as the high-pitched voice rung from inside, "is to find out who I am, not where I am."

I clasped my lips tight, and took several deep breathes. _In... Out... In... Out..._

"If I go in there, I'll find out exactly who you are-"

"And after I gave you such easy hints. Even a primary school student could have figured it out." I flushed, gritting my teeth together at his condescending words. "You have not watched the news lately."

"The news?" I had barely turned on the television after entering Japan, especially when all the coverage ever seemed to talk about was Kira, Kira, Ki-...

"... You disguise your voice..." My voice was dripping of doubt. From what little I had seen on the news... I had seen enough. "Investigator. Your name is one in 26..."

As I spoke, Watari glided backwards in the dark room, and I could see the dark figure emerge from the blackness. I went on, "One in 26 _letters."_

I couldn't control my expression. My face was blank, my eyes wide and tense, unable to look away, but stricken by who it might see. I knew who it was, but...

From behind me, I heard the elevator ding, signaling its stop.

I answered, "You're L."

The elevators whirred its doors open, but before the people getting off could even step off, he clutched my wrist to pull me in.

**-X-**

Steam whirled and twisted from the heat of the porcelain cup. Lean, alabaster fingers grasped the handle of the cup closest to his side. I did not touch the one opposite to his. I didn't want to touch anything of his. His circular eyes were large in size, but far from adorable. I'd hesitate to even call him average.

I hated the way he looked at me. I hated how I was so stupid: stupid for not figuring out where or_ who_ he was earlier, when it was evidently so obvious. He had literally given me some of the easiest hints possible, and I hadn't even... hadn't even grazed who he was. I was idiotic for not seeing it. He was known to be residing in hotels, and for changing his voice with a voice changer. I had even read that his handler was someone named 'Watari', and yet the pieces hadn't struck me, despite the unique name. I had no idea I was dealing with something so big, but now that I knew who he was, I was so defeated that I had missed it for so long.

I was seated across from the world's reputed 'Greatest Private Investigator', solely in charge of the Kira case: also known as T-Rex, also known as Ryuuga, also known as To-Oh's _other Top Freshman._

Even the dainty tea cup pissed me off from the way he chose to hold it - with just his thumb and a finger, like it was such an antique piece. _It was just a fucking cup._

I exhaled through my nostrils, channeling a calm strength.

"I shall continue to address you as Sveinson-san."

I gnashed, "I'd prefer if you didn't address me at all."

He didn't even blink.

I shut my eyes and massaged my temples gently with kneading fingers. My throat felt heavy, like I'd swallowed more than I should have. Despite the arm chair being cushioned and more than accommodating in size, I held myself tight, crossing my arms over my chest and crossing my ankles.

Like if I wasn't careful, I'd spill and fall apart for him to see.

"Tell me about yourself." I wrinkled my nose at his words, but I kept my eyes closed, as if trying to convince myself that this was all just a bad dream. When he spoke, he did not speak in questions. He was being firm with me, and something told me that he knew very well of his power and authority in our circumstance. No matter how you chose to look at it, I was dealt a shitty hand of cards, and he was equipped with a Straight Flush.

"I don't want to."

L seemed to take a moment. His fingers met his mouth as he considered my response. Or he considered me. Or I don't know. He was too much of an enigma. My mind still refused to come to terms with who this man was. He looked less than a handful of years older than myself. He was a student at my University, for crying out loud, so how...?

"I see. I supposed _I_ could tell _you_ about the fingerprints found on the night of the Douglas Jones incident."

Or maybe a Royal Flush.

But if he wanted someone to play a game with, it wasn't going to be me.

"You can interrogate me all you want, but you're only wasting your own time." I looked him in his unfeeling eyes. "Whatever happened with this Douglas Jones guy, I had nothing to do with."

"I shall rephrase the proposition." The man across from me placed his tea-cup down with two fingers, and his hands rest back atop his knees. He was sitting in a squatting position, with his feet on the seat.

"You do not particularly care about being interrogated, which can be due to two possible reasons, for you," he thought aloud, "either you have given up, but have decided to go down without admitting anything and be convicted in denial... Or you believe I am bluffing, due to the fact that I have not yet acquired your fingerprints for analyzation, or any fingerprints of the culprit from that night."

"That _could _be," I maintained, sizing him up and down, "or maybe it's because I _didn't do anything_."

"That is a lie. Ninety two percent." I frowned, stubborn in mind and act. He spoke with no emotion, no lilt in his tone, but his voice was smooth to the point of almost a purring monotone. He was eloquent, for a man who did not appear to be; eloquent not in the way that his tone was charismatic, but his words came out steady and unperturbed, like he was already so convinced and so assured... that he could really care less about what I had to say... because he'd already figured it out...?

"I do not particularly care about Douglas Jones. I do not _particularly _care about the fact that no legitimate records of you graduating from high school exist. It is on file, but I know that it is forged. I could prove it by tomorrow and have you kicked out of To-Oh. One hundred percent."

The gentle whirring of the computers and the screens were the only source of light in the dusky hotel room. Aside from the illuminated computer screens and the usual furniture, there was no decor in this suite. I glanced around, and managed to catch the eye of Watari. He met my gaze, but I couldn't see his eyes, and I couldn't read what he was trying to tell me, if anything. I whipped my stare away.

"If you think for a second that I'm going to agree to anything by threatening to kick me out of school, then you're out of your mind. If you know _so much, _the way you put on, you would know that I don't have a family to impress. No friends that I risk being exposed to. Not even a life worth saving. You should already know all this. From the moment I realized who you really were, I was upset for a different reason. Not because you were getting into my business, but..." At this, he seemed to finally be paying attention to me. Finally he was looking at me with something other than a mild amusement. Finally, he was looking at me _seriously._

"I don't have anything to lose," my voice left in a broken whisper. L's large foreboding eyes stared at me, unyielding. "You're stopping me in my tracks before I've even set out to make anything of this life, and so my last shred of hope hates you for it."

Silence constricted my throat as he reached out again to take a sip from his cup. I watched him diligently, observing his unusual habits and trying to make sense of them.

"You are a criminal." He waited, possibly to see if I'd reply. I didn't. "But you are not a terrible person."

Something about the way he spoke, the way it gave me hope, inclined me to blurt, "What are you trying to say?"

"I do not believe that you have not killed anyone." His eyes darted up to analyze me, and I froze. I couldn't tell if he was lying to me, or if he genuinely thought that. "You finished your last crime with Jones, or so you made yourself the ultimatum that you would no longer be involved in such matters."

I sneered at him, arms crossed tightly over my chest. He swirled the contents of his cup. "You are attending University in hopes of giving yourself a fresh start, which I may surmise is also the reason you moved to Japan. You are also in the midst of trying to open a bakery, as you had owned one previously in the States. You do not have any family, or any that you are aware of, and you do not have any friends, albeit you are not even slightly afflicted by that fact. You are trying to isolate yourself, and the thought of attracting attention causes you grief as opposed to vanity. You present a façade so tightly wound and so precisely thought-out, I had to _investigate _you to see you for what you really are."

I jumped up from my seat. _So suddenly he fucking knows who I _really am? _Who the fuck does he think he -_

"You rappelled from the 26th floor of a building to save a stranger from going into Cardiac Arrest."

My voice caught in my throat. _He... saw that?_

"As clever as you are, you are taking too much time in deciphering my point. I have been more than generous in explaining myself adequately enough for you to comprehend." He set his cup down, and I bit my lip. My rage had sizzled down to a low simmer, with merely the knowledge that he'd seen my heroic act. I'd known him for less than a day, and the almost-compliment from his droning, straight-forward mouth something managed to sweet-talk me in a blink. I melted faster than butter in a pan. It was so impossibly frustrating.

"I want you on my team."

_"I know,"_ I interrupted brusquely, simply because his voice was beginning to grate on my nerves. I'd been too confused and confounded to solve his puzzle, and so he'd handed me the pieces and snapped most of them in place for me, but I at least wanted to finish the puzzle; even if he was the one who dragged me into his game in the first place. I wanted my last shred of dignity, because all he'd done was tread over it and make me feel absolutely _stupid._

"But when you say team," the words came out shaky from my mouth, just to spite me, "you couldn't possibly mean... The team I'm thinking about."

His eyes with their dark circles glimpsed up at me, and that answered my question. At first, I hadn't thought much of his hollow eyes, but the _way _he looked at me... I finally saw it. He was expectant, and anticipating. He was waiting. I clenched my fists, then slowly lowered myself back into the chair, my legs spread wide as I leaned forward and clasped my hands together. My head hung down.

"I'm a criminal," I said.

"I know," he said.

I nearly blushed. "Then why?"

The cup closest to me on the sleek, reflective table had stopped steaming. I took a deep breath, held it, and then exhaled through a stream of controlled air.

"You are interesting," he supplied vaguely, as if that answered anything. I withheld the urge to glare at him. It'd seem elementary and immature with everything I'd already done in front of this man...

"And if I refuse?"

"There is a mere fifteen percent chance you will refuse once I propose my offer to you, and it is only that high due to your own stubbornness in refusal to submit."

"You think you know me," I grit out. It wasn't even an accusation, but a statement.

Again, his finger trailed to his pale, thin lips. "I have barely skimmed the surface of you."

His words contradicted what he'd said to me so far, but I didn't feel like bringing it up. It was a one-sided conversation. He was the only one amusing himself. I was caged. I couldn't escape this.

I reached out to take the cup of cold tea, and without even giving it another thought, I downed it. The cold spread through my throat and limbs in ripples, and I forced down the desire to shiver.

"You have a proposal, you said." The cup hit its saucer with a _ting, _and I leaned back in my seat to get comfy, not even worrying about whether or not the drink was drugged. "Let's hear it, and see just how strong that fifteen percent actually is."

"Watari," the man across from me beckoned, and I frowned as Watari came forward.

"No, I want to hear it from you, from _your mouth_. If you're going to make me an offer, you better do it yourself or I'm not considering anything."

He smiled wistfully across my vision, and I scowled. He wasn't even good-looking, but his peculiarity was getting the better of me. At least I knew I was definitely straight.

"Stubborn," he said.

"Fifteen percent," I said.

"Watari is bringing us more tea. No need to jump to conclusions."

He did not need to say that last part. He said it just to mock me, and I sighed shakily. This entire conversation was just a giant mental battle, and I was losing grip of my sword through sweaty palms.

"Join the Japanese Task Force in finding Kira."

I waited for him to say more, but he didn't. I scoffed. "That's it? You're supposed to be one of the world's most renown investigators, and yet you think that's a proposal worth eight-five percent? This is just a ploy to investigate me even further and land me in jail. I may have been foolish before, but I'm not dumb. I know that the NPA cut off funding for you guys, and the fact that you know of the Douglas Jones incident means that you've been taking on cases to earn money, because surely Jones would be willing to pay a hefty amount - simply because he's a rich bastard. I'm not joining shit, _L, _or should I call you Ryuuga?"

"Joining the Task Force means joining under me, and if it were to leak out that I allowed a criminal to join my team, the responsibility would land on me. You called me one of the world's most renown investigators. I don't think they would take lightly to me claiming that I did 'not know' of your status and history."

"So despite all that, you're going to allow a criminal... to join your organization of bringing down a criminal?"

"I never said that."

I almost blurted _'so what are you saying, then?' _but I realized that he is testing me. Again, with these tests, he was such a frustrating man. I took a deep breath, calmed myself, and thought it over.

He wanted me 'on his team'... If I gave him the benefit of the doubt, what would be his reasons? Did he see potential in me? Perhaps he thought I could bring something to the table that no one else could, but for all the pros I could think of, I found double the cons. He just wanted to jail me. I'd already admitted in person that I was a criminal. All he had to do was record me and bring it to court.

Either way, I was screwed. Just the fact that I was even in this room meant that I was already too deep to get out. I didn't doubt for a second that he was the real deal; that he could jail me right away, even without pulling me into this endeavour.

I was screwed from the moment Watari opened his door to save me.

"If I join your team..." I swallowed down my pride. "Will you protect me?"

"Protect you," he said the words like he is testing them on his lips. I watched as he paused. "You mean lie for you?"

I ignored how, again, his words didn't quite match what he wanted from me. I ignored Watari as he set down set the two cups, now filled with more tea, back down on the table with their saucers. "As if you wouldn't be willing to. You're a liar, and you know it."

A sound, like a breath, emitted from him, and he replied, "Quite the incrimination."

"I've never been wrong about someone when it comes to honesty. And you are one of the biggest liars I have _ever_ had the displeasure of meeting."

And when he looked at me, and I could see it in his eyes. I held down my anger, held down the humiliation from pooling in my cheeks as I registered his gaze.

_'It takes one to know one.'_

In a way, I felt like the conversation wasn't even happening: I was talking to an anatomical large doll - robot, if you will. I could hardly read him. He betrayed minimal amounts of emotion, and even body language that I couldn't decipher. What was worse, was that even though I had absolutely no clue about him, I was uncannily inclined to agree. I was going to agree to his terms.

He knew it. I knew. He knew. We both seemed to just _know _what the other person was thinking, except there was a catch.

This man was better than me. In so many ways; more intelligent, better at deciphering, quicker with drawing accurate conclusions. It was one of the worst feelings; to excel at something, and then to be confronted by someone who was _more _excellent at it than you.

I buried my face into my hands, sinking into my seat. I kneaded my face like dough. "How long?"

Without asking for further clarification, he answered before taking a sip of his tea, "Two weeks..."

I was almost pleasantly surprised. "That's it? Then... You'll let me off the hook?"

He lowered his cup and finished, "Is your probation."

I exhaled, exasperated. "And what happens at the end of my probation?"

"You either stay on my team, or you leave."

Leave... I would have to leave not only his team, but To-oh. My school, my classmates, my apartment... my new life.

"You are despicable."

"You have decided." I closed my eyes. I was no match for this man.

Join his team in search for Kira, and he would _maybe possibly_ temporarily ignore the fact that I was a criminal. I would have to be crazy to agree to something like that.

"I'm in."

_Luckily, I'm already insane._

**End of Chapter Eight.**

**-X-**

Did you miss me? :D Haha, maybe not.

Because of the wait, I've decided to fast forward things a bit. Things moved quite quickly in this chapter, but I would like to think that L is not a particularly patient individual anyway, and our protagonist isn't too fond of beating around the bush either.

A lot of dialogue, and not much description, especially towards the end, but do not worry! If you're hungry for imagery and more tone, it will come soon. I would like to think that this first meeting would be incredibly confusing, and scattered as there's a lot of mind-battling going on between these two individuals.

Excited for the relationship between these two to progress! GETPUMPED!


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